Evil Kasumi Returns
by datexan
Summary: (Divergent) After reading Evil Kasumi II by Targhan, I got this idea. What if Kasumi was to be possessed again by the orgedemon... but what if apperances were not all that they seemed? Rated R for some mature themes.
1. The Orgedemon returns

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ nor any of the characters. If I did, things would be a lot different. But alas, all I can do is dream and think… what if…

And speaking of 'What if', after reading "Evil Kasumi II" by Targhan on The Church of Ranma and Kasumi; http:cork. I got this idea.

Evil Kasumi Returns

Ranma sighed as he walked home one Friday afternoon in the general direction of the Tendo home. "Man this weekend is going to be so boring," he said softly as he opened the creaking gate and walked towards the front door. Holding up his hand, he counted off the members of his makeshift family. "Well, since they won those tickets from out of the blue to that south pacific island, Happosai took pops and Mr. Tendo… aw man I feel sorry for the girls on that island." He smiled, shook his head and then sighed again. "Ok, those three will be gone for a week. And then there's Nabiki, she's gonna be at that student business seminar on the other side of Tokyo, so she'll be gone till Sunday."

His thoughts were interrupted as he saw Akane rushing out the door. "By Ranma, see you later!" She said as she waved goodbye.

Blinking he watched shocked, as she ran out the gate. "I thought… she wasn't leaving till tonight." Shaking his head Ranma thought to himself, 'and there goes Akane, she's gonna be at Sayuri's sleepover tonight, so that just leaves Kasumi and me here...'

It wasn't that that he disliked Kasumi, quite the contrary. Of the Tendo daughters, she was the one that treated him with kindness and concern, but most especially, she never tried to hit him, or take his money. She was just so cheerful and smiling all the time he thought that nothing could get her down. "At least it's gonna be a quiet weekend, but what am I gonna do?" he mumbled to himself as he opened the door. He had scarcely taken three steps when he noticed a box on the floor.

"Huh, what's this," he asked as he picked up the box. It was a simple wood box that appeared to be warped slightly by water and several strips of kanji filled paper covered it. One piece of paper looked a lot like a mailing label… from America. "Do we even know someone from there?" While thinking of this, something was nagging at him and for some reason the box looked somewhat familiar, but he couldn't remember from where. "Maybe Kasumi knows someone there," he said and walked further into the house.

Having been so caught up in his thoughts he did not pay attention to the sudden danger that he sensed; however, as soon as Kasumi opened the door to the kitchen and stepped out, everything he had felt, fell into place.

"Hello Ranma," she said as nice as ever, but he was not looking at her angelic face or her warm smile. No, he was instead looking at a pair of small horns on top of her head. "You look very tired, would you like me to give you a massage?"

As she said that, she pulled her hands out from behind her back, which prompted Ranma to gulp loudly. "Oh no…" he said softly as he saw the long blades that extended from her fingers. 'That box… it's the one we put that ogredemon in… and those horns… the…the fingers…' Slowly his mind registered the fact that the evil ogre had returned, and that Kasumi was possessed once again. 'Why me?' he asked himself. 'The Kami must really want me to never to have a calm and quiet moment in my life.'

Ranma looked around for a place to run away to, but he knew that he was the only one here besides her… and if he left then no one would be here to help her, or stop her for that matter. "Um… Kasumi…" he said slowly and laughed nervously. "I… um…"

"It's no problem Ranma." She told him and was quickly standing behind him and started massaging his shoulders.

He tensed up and waited for the pain to hit. Her hands had reminded him of that Gaijin Flick he'd seen a few weeks ago with his friends. It was called 'Edward Scissorhands' However, he was surprised to find that the pricks form the blades were actually very light and it felt more like she was giving him a good back scratch and not trying to seriously hurt him. This of course confused the young martial artist even more until he remembered that her father only complained about it being uncomfortable and scratching, and Ranma knew that he was far stronger than Soün, so of course he wouldn't be as affected by it. "Feels… good," he told the possessed girl to which she only smiled and nodded quietly.

When she stopped, he rotated his head and arms a little and let out a sigh, "Man that felt good." He gave a genuine smile at her.

"I'm glad you liked it Ranma-kun, I will be right back and dinner will be ready." She then got up gracefully as a goddess would, though the image was lessened with the horns on her head and spikes on her still delicate hands. Thus, she left him to his thoughts which at the moment, wasn't much.

"I wonder if I should call someone?" He thought for a minute then snapped his fingers, "Cologne, she'll know what to do." He went to the phone and quickly picked up the receiver and tried to place a call. However, all that greeted him was dead air. "Huh, that's strange..." He hung up the phone and then picked it up again to make the call again. This time he noticed that the phone was dead. No dial tone, no background noise, no nothing. "Ah man... this sucks. I can't leave her like this, and I can't take her out like this either." He knew then, that he was stuck.

Even though some time had passed since the earlier possession, he could still remember how they had to quarantine the home to keep the ogre contained. This time, it looked as though he was going to be on his own, as he had no way to go get someone or call someone to come help.

As he contemplated what to do, Kasumi brought out dinner and set it out on the table. "Ranma, dinner is ready."

"Yes!" he shouted and sat down at the table happily and completely forgetting Kasumi's predicament. However, after taking one large bite of the dinner he felt like he was breathing fire.

Seeing his discomfort Kasumi asked him, "Are you alright Ranma-kun?"

"Um... yea Kasumi. Its fine," he choked and after drinking three straight glasses of water, he tried to eat more. This time, Ranma ate slower and noticed that if he did that, then the food wouldn't be too spicy. Smiling, he ate almost everything she had cooked. The only reason he didn't eat everything was that he found out eating slower also filled him up faster. Not only was he filled, but having been forced to slow down in his eating, he was able to enjoy the dinner a lot more than normal. "That was great!" He told the possessed girl and then noticed her horns again. 'Damn, I need to do something to get rid of that thing,' he thought and wondered what he should do while Kasumi cleared off the table and washed the dishes.

Without really knowing what to do, he left the room and made his way to the dojo. "Maybe a few Katas will help me think…" at least he hoped it would. Regardless, Ranma started with a basic kata and then moved to his more advanced ones. As he worked his way though the exercises he kept coming down to one final solution, he'd have to hit Kasumi to get the oni out, but he couldn't see himself hitting Kasumi… 'It's just not right.'

"Ranma." A feminine voice spoke said and broke him out of his thoughts. He turned to see Kasumi standing there with a tray and two cups. And despite his unspoken wish, she still had those two small horns sticking out of the top of her hair. "I've brought you some tea," she told him and with a reserved sigh, he moved over towards her.

Sitting down across from her, he watched as she poured the tea and giving it a dubious look, he sniffed at it. With another sigh, he realized that it was going to be as spicy as dinner was. Taking long slow sips though allowed him to mostly enjoy it. There was a different taste to the tea, but he couldn't quite identify it, but it wasn't bad. When he had finished several cups of tea, he was feeling better and much more relaxed. 'At least she's not trying to poison me,' he thought.

However as much as he thought she was not going to poison him, he soon realized that something else was wrong. His arms and legs were not moving as normally as they should. Though he was not paralyzed, his movements were sluggish and his balance was off. "Wha?" he asked and looked to Kasumi. Her angelic smile still offset by those horns.

"You look tired Ranma-kun. Let me help you to bed." Without a good way to stand or walk, he had to let her do just that. So they both made their way out from the dojo, swaying through the living room and took a longer time than normal to get up the stairs. Soon he was on a bed, and fast asleep.

As he slept much more deeply than normal, he had a very good and sexy dream; a dream of a woman, as there was not way the well-proportioned female could be that of a young girl. In the dream she came to him, professing her love to him, and Ranma found that he was drawn to her… drawn in a way that he had never felt anytime before, or for any woman as well. And so as she kissed him, he returned the kiss. Slowly his arms wrapped around her and pulled her to him, holding her tight. He even imagined the scent and sweat of her arousing body.

And so with that very good, and very vivid dream running though his mind, Ranma slept better than he ever had in his life. Though when he later woke up a few things surprised him. Slowly as he returned to the land of the living, and the first thing he realized was he was very comfortably sleeping on this soft bed. 'Bed!' Ahoh! That word bounced off the innards of his dazed skull a few times, as he concluded that he was not on a futon, but on a bed. 'Oh man, this isn't a good way to start a day.' His eyes opened slowly and when he saw the ceiling over him, he could not help but think that this was the wrong patch of ceiling. 'There's none of the cracks and missing plaster that I'm used to, course that's from all the fights that start in my room. This is smooth and has no cracks or damage.'

'I know what the ceiling over my bed looks like... and this ain't it,' he concluded. 'So where am I?' As he contemplated this, his hand began to stroke something that was soft, and warm… and slightly moist like sweat lying mostly on top of him. It was then that he suddenly started having a war inside his mind telling him that he was not where he was supposed to be and that something or someone was in the bed with him. Not believing what his hands were telling him, Ranma tilted his head up and looked. His eyes opened wider than they should have been able to as he saw a body, a female body lying partially on top of him. The body had long brown hair that was mostly in a messy ponytail. Not only was the body using him as a pillow, but also one slender arm of the body was draped over him in a gentle and warm embrace.

'Not good… not good at all…' he thought and slowly his mind, hands and eyes came to the conclusion that it was Kasumi that was lying on him. 'Really not good,' he thought again. His heart began hammering in his chest in fear with each new discovery. But the one that threatened to send him into an early heart attack was the fact that… he could feel every inch of her body pressed against him. 'That means…' he thought and was very near panicking. 'We're both… naked…' (Eep!) He mentally screamed!

It was at this point that Kasumi woke up. Those beautiful brown eyes seemed to exude caring and warmth as she looked at his perplexed expression. "Oh, good morning Ranma-kun." She said sweetly, smiled and placed a warm and loving kiss on his quivering lips causing his heart to race… but for an entirely different reason. Slowly Kasumi sat up, and stretched. In doing this, it showed clearly that his mind was right; she was gloriously naked. And in moving to sit up and stretch, she went from kneeling over his body to straddling his damp hips. With her stretching like that, it made several parts of him react without his bidding. This in turn caused her to smile and giggle slightly, her hands clasping together bringing her assets together as well. She winked at him, "Not right now Ranma-Kun, I have to get changed and get breakfast started." She was still smiling as she carefully moved off him, and the bed. Thought he was now exposed to her his eyes were glued to this full view of the goddess before him.

Walking around the room, she gathered a change of clothes for herself bending over and making him redder than any ripe tomato in season. She finally turned, smiled, blew a kiss at him and headed out the door to the bathroom. Ranma slowly sat up and looked at his body and at the room. "I'm in Kasumi's room… we're both naked… and… and… and I think that dream… wasn't really a dream… but if that's true then… then…" His mind was slowly seizing up as he realized that both, he and Kasumi had not just slept together, they -slept- together!

"Oh man, Akane's gonna kill me literally… and pops… and Soün… and Nabiki too… not to mention Shampoo, Ukyo and Kodachi… and… course Mom's gonna dance at me being manly but…" he stopped his tirade as he saw something on the floor. "What's that?" Moving to the floor Ranma bent down and picked up a small yellow and black cone of some sort. "What's this?"

Kasumi could not have been happier. Last night Ranma had told her that he loved her… and had made love to her and more than once. But, it wasn't just both of them having sex; he actually told her that he loved her, and that making love to her was his way of showing how he felt about her. She was on cloud nine. At least until she looked at her self in the mirror. The sight that greeted her caused her to panic. She reached up to her hair with her now shaking hand. "Oh no, where is it…" dropping her clothes she held in her other hand, she began searching though her hair, and only found one small yellow and black horn still attached to her. "On no… he knows… he has to know…" she said and then fell heavily to the floor crying. Oh my…what will he think of me now? With what I did…how I did it …he'll think I'm a…" She continued to cry, not hearing the steps of someone coming towards her.

To be continued… (Really… despite my reputation for unfinished works, I plan to do a lot more with this. And yeah I know. There is a difference in planning and doing, but give me a chance.)


	2. Truth be Told

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ nor any of the characters. If I did, things would be a lot different. But alas, all I can do is dream and think… what if…

And speaking of 'What if', after reading "Evil Kasumi II" by Targhan on The Church of Ranma and Kasumi; http:cork. I got this idea.

And now, "Truth Be told," or in other words, the Confessions.

Kasumi could not have been happier. Last night Ranma had told her that he loved her… and had made love to her and more than once. But, it wasn't just both of them having sex; he actually told her that he loved her, and that making love to her was his way of showing how he felt about her. She was on cloud nine. At least until she looked at her self in the mirror. The sight that greeted her caused her to panic. She reached up to her hair with her now shaking hand. "Oh no, where is it…" dropping her clothes she held in her other hand, she began searching though her hair, and only found one small yellow and black horn still attached to her. "On no… he knows… he has to know…" she said and then fell heavily to the floor crying. Oh my…what will he think of me now? With what I did…how I did it …he'll think I'm a…" She continued to cry, not hearing the steps of someone coming towards her.

Ranma's mind was spiraling out of control, as the more he looked at the cone, the more he felt a sense of dread. But when his ears alerted him to something falling… and the sound of crying almost like a wail, Ranma was on his feet and moving faster than he'd ever moved. Without thinking about the consequences, he opened the door to the bathroom and saw Kasumi sitting there and crying. Again, his body reacted before his mind could tell him that they were both still naked. Moving over to her, he kneeled behind her and wrapped her arms around her. "Kasumi… I…" he started to say and was cut off as she twisted in his arms, grabbed him in a tight embrace and started crying harder on his now damp shoulder.

Never having been good with crying females, Ranma did what ever he thought would help… he just held her and let her cry. True, it was not much, but it was all he could think to do without making things worse. His silence seemed to finally pay off as her crying began to slow down and then finally it stopped, though she did not let go of him. However, her continuing to hold him had a rather unexpected side effect for him as his body began telling him, that he was naked, she was naked, and they were holding each other very, very close.

Before he could move or say anything, he heard her say something. "What was that?"

"You know... don't you."

"About you not being possessed?" he asked and she nodded her head. "Yea, I… I saw the horn on the floor. But I didn't know what it was… At first."

"I'm sorry…"

Ranma was about to open his mouth when he stopped and asked a different question. "Why?"

"Why?" she asked back, not really wanting an answer.

"Yeah, why'd you pretend to be… you know… possessed? You know, using the horns and the weird fingernails and stuff."

"I had to…" she answered quickly almost biting off each word.

"But why?" He still couldn't see it, even as she was right in front of him.

She smiled at him as she released him from her iron grip and sat back to look at him in the face. Ranma for his part just sat down in front of her, both of them not even paying attention to the other's nakedness.

"I had to keep you here… with me. And this was the only way."

Ranma couldn't believe it. The calm and silent Kasumi, the one that was always smiling, was actually scheming, but he had yet to learn the full extent of her scheme. "You're really serious, aren't ya?"

"Yes, I knew that Akane would not stay once she saw the box, and since everyone else is out of town I knew you'd stay with me."

"Ya know, all ya had to do was ask and I'd of stayed. I mean it's not like I really have anywhere else to go."

Again, she smiled at him. "But Ranma-kun, would you have stayed with me… in my bed, if I would have asked."

"Well… um… you see… I…" he hung his head. "Kasumi, its wrong… what we did was wrong."

"Why!" She almost shouted the tears ready to flow from her again. "You and Akane can't stand each other!" She regretted yelling at him the moment the words left her mouth. But she knew that now she had his undivided attention, she looked at him with emotion-filled eyes and continued, "I tried to help both of you, to encourage you to care for one another, and to tell you and her that things would work out. But after everything, you two are still no closer than you were a year ago." He tried to say something but she put her hand up which stifled what he was about to say as she said, "Our fathers are so set on making you two get married that they are making you both miserable. It hurts to see this. I've tried to pretend that nothing was wrong and that it'd all work out… but it's not!"

She smiled. "Then I began to have… feelings for you. And why and how you may ask?" He simply nodded. "When you kept helping us, and even those who would have killed you, you help. It can only make me care for you more."

To say the least, Ranma was taken back by her outburst. "But… I… Akane… we…" he sighed and hung his head. He knew things had been going downhill, even worse than before. What Kasumi said… made sense now.

"Akane will be upset," Kasumi said sadly, to which Ranma only nodded his head. "Ranma, do you think it would have really worked out between you and my sister?" Kasumi already knew the answer; she had been watching them for a long time now. She just hoped that he would start to see it as well.

He gave her a blank stare and contemplated it. Even during the times they acted civil to each other it was as if they were having a silent war. A war where neither side wanted to be the first to attack, but they both knew that it was impossible to stop for long. In his mind, he could see what their married life would be if things kept going as they were. At first, they would be married but sleeping in different rooms at least until their fathers put a stop to that. Then they would be sleeping in the same room, on different sides of the room. Somewhere along the line they would be forced to sleep in the same bed, but he know how Akane would react to that, and being mallet-ed every morning was not his idea of an good marriage.

"What would you have me to do?" he asked her miserably. "It's not like she's going to just up and accept this… or any other girl 'winning' me."

"I know," she said softly. "But I had to get you alone, to see… to see if it was possible… to see if you could love me. I've been lonely Ranma; even since Dr. Tofu left, no one has really given me much notice. My life isn't just to cook and keep a house clean, even though that's all I seem to do. I wanted, needed more. I… I've been watching you since you got here. At first, I thought you would be boring and immature. But the more I watched you, the more I became certain that you are anything but boring." She kissed him once on his nose and went on when she saw a slight smirk appear on his face. "When you saved Akane and even Nabiki all those times, my love grew. And finally when the demon took my body, you were there trying to help me even though… well you know." He nodded a bit numbly. "Can you now see why I feel the way I do for you, you are my shining knight. I can't have anyone else, especially my sister or your finance's continually abuse you, or allow my father or yours control you anymore!" She rubbed his cheek with her hand as he nodded again. "I just wanted to be the one point of calm in your chaotic life."

He chuckled at her words, "Yep, life with me is one big ball of fun." Just after saying that he noticed a strange look on her face. "Kasumi... how… long have you been planning this?"

The girl let out a sigh, "For a long time. Ever since that first night, I've wondered if I made the wrong choice. You see at first I… I wanted Dr. Tofu to love me… But he never could stop dancing with that...that skeleton of his. I saw that he was actually more immature than you were." He grumbled at her choice of words, but she kept on talking, she had to get this out into the open. "I also saw how strong you were inside, surviving all those challenges and helping us and your friends all the time. I admired that in you. And I… I…" She blushed a bright red as she tried to say that she has been in love with him for some time, but has been hiding it. "But when I heard those words… of love, it made everything I've gone though worth it. And the best part is that I know you meant every word!" As she spoke the last she smiled wistfully, "I was so happy when you told me last night. And… and then we kissed…"

As she sighed happily, he blushed again, "So um… you planned for us to… um... you know…"

"Oh my no… that was as much of a surprise to me, as I'm sure to you as well!"

Ever the one for eloquence, Ranma said, "Huh?"

"All I had planned was to just get you to a position that you could tell me if you could love me or not. And at the most, I was hoping for a kiss. Maybe we could fall asleep together." She blushed like a schoolgirl, though it looked more beautiful to Ranma with her mature looks.

"So um… it all changed when... um…"

"Oh yes, when we kissed, and then you unfastened my dress. I couldn't believe it, and I didn't want it to stop."

"Urk!" Ranma's brain wanted to seize up on that fact and then suddenly images began running though his mind, replaying things last night. 'It's true…' he thought as he recalled telling her that he loved her… that he's always cared for her, but was too scared for Kasumi to do anything, if the others knew what he really felt for her, then he knew that she wouldn't be safe anymore. But after he kissed her, he then had started to undress her as he kissed her more. "So… so I…"

She nodded her head and continued to smile radiantly, "Yes, we made love last night."

Unfortunately, his mind did not believe it, "So it wasn't a dream?"

"Oh my, it felt much better than a dream… especially after the first three of four times last night…" she suddenly blushed again and averted her eyes from him as she did not want to say that she thought she had died and gone to heaven.

"Three… or four times…" he replied softly, to which she just nodded her head. In his mind, he now could remember them stopping a few times, allowing her to take a short rest or change positions. "Oh man…"

For a time the two just sat there not looking at each other as Ranma came to a very real conclusion that even though she had kissed him first… he was the one that made the first move and undressed her. "I'm a dead man."

"Oh my," she said softly trying to stifle a giggle. "You're not going to die; I have everything taken care of."

"Huh?" he looked at her confused. "What do you mean?"

"Nabiki's conference will keep her out until tomorrow afternoon. Akane will be with her friends for most of the day. Though she may stop by to grab some clothes, since her other friend will continue the sleep over at her other friend's home for the three of them tonight. And our fathers will be out of town with Happosai until later this week."

He blinked and then looked at her. "You… planned all this?"

Kasumi looked sheepish, wringing her hands. "Some of it."

Ranma couldn't believe it. "How much?"

"Nabiki's conference wasn't my idea, but she's been talking about it for several weeks. So when I ran into Sayuri's mother at the market I quietly hinted that Akane was hoping to have a sleepover but with so many other people here it was not possible."

Slowly his mind registered what she was saying, "So she was the one that setup the sleep over?"

"Yes, and her other sleepover for tonight was setup the same way." Kasumi told him happily.

"And the trip?"

"Oh I was able to pull some money out of our savings, and then bought three tickets to the island resort and made it look like we won them."

"I can't believe it! You sent Happosai to an island full of women! Do you know what he's going to do there?"

"Not much."

Ranma had the good graces to look confused. "Huh?"

"Yes it's an island resort, but the information never said what kind of resort."

That got his interest, "What kind is it?"

"It's a… well you see…" he just looked at her as she fumbled with the words and looked embarrassed. "Um, you know how you can be both a male and then female by being splashed with water?"

"Um yea, it's been that way for years."

"Well, there are… people that um... are born that way… but they don't change with water."

Ranma blinked, hard. "What?"

"It's a… a resort for Transsexuals… everyone on the island is both male and female… so they may look like girls, but they're also male…"

"And Happosai only gets his strength from real girls… while guys sap his strength… so when he tries to grope a girl, and finds out it's a guy he gets drained instead…" She meekly nodded her head and Ranma lost his control. He started laughing, chuckling, guffawing, giggling, and any other sort of vocal amusement he knew to the point his sides were starting to hurt.

Kasumi giggled at him and added, "And there's not a permanent airport on the island, so the plane was to drop them off… by parachute, and then it continued its course to another larger island. According to the flight schedule, there will be no other flights into or away from the island for at least four days, but their tickets are for a week long stay." At this point Ranma was rolling on the floor laughing harder than he had ever laughed in his life. He could imagine a fat furry panda being chased by women who could give King Kong a run for its money. The fact that he had never seen or knew what exactly a transsexual was had been overlooked by his mind and instead his imagination made up a lot. But even then, it was enough to almost make him pity the two fathers.

Though it took some time, Ranma finally got his laughing under control. For the time being Ranma paid no attention to the fact that he and Kasumi were both naked; as it just did not seem to be on his mind. Instead, Kasumi explained more of how she had set things up, including the sake that she served him that was flavored with a few tea leaves to make it smell and taste somewhat like tea.

"So you're saying that I was drunk… and last night…"

"Oh no, you weren't drunk at all," she told him with such conviction it was plain to tell she was being serious.

Needless to say, he was confused. "But the sake?"

"For someone of your weight and abilities to be drunk you would have had to drink at least three bottles straight. And I only let you drink a few cups."

Ranma just blinked at her. "So I wasn't drunk?"

"Correct, and the dinner had some medicine in it that prevents you from getting drunk," she explained looking rather nervous.

"Is that why it was so spicy?"

"No, the medicine had a strong taste, so I had to offset it somehow." He blinked as she explained. "And I, well I wanted you to slow down too."

"Slow down?"

"Well... You see… you eat… just a little to fast."

At least Ranma had the good graces to look embarrassed. "Oh… well…"

"So… um… that's why it was so spicy?"

"Well, yes... But it was also to hide the taste."

"So, I really wasn't drunk?"

Blushing she told him, "I wanted you to be relaxed, not drunk."

"Oh, well… um…"

"I was a bit concerned when you couldn't walk, but the effects wore off quickly." He could not argue with that, as with the memories he had, they were hazy as though they were dreams, and not clouded by alcohol.

To be continued… (Yes, there is still more to go. Like what happens when Akane and Nabiki get home as well as the rest of the family. As a teaser… I am currently planning the fight between Kasumi and Shampoo over Ranma.)


	3. Are we moving too fast?

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ nor any of the characters. If I did, things would be a lot different. But alas, all I can do is dream and think… what if…

And speaking of 'What if', after reading "Evil Kasumi II" by Targhan on The Church of Ranma and Kasumi; http:cork. I got this idea.

And now, "Are we Moving too Fast?"

It was somewhere between midday and evening when Akane returned home. Although she felt bad about leaving Kasumi like she had, she was scared of what might happen. As it was, she did enjoy herself nonetheless. When Akane slipped the door to the kitchen open, she could see Kasumi, sans horns. To say the least she was pleasantly happy to see that Kasumi was back to her normal self and making dinner, but the best part was that her elder sister no longer appeared to be possessed. But before she decided to say that all was well, she went to the Dojo to check up on Ranma. "If that pervert did anything to my sister I'm gonna kill him," she mumbled even though she was glad Kasumi was ok.

Kasumi smiled as she saw her little sister peek in on her. 'If only you knew…' the elder Tendo thought as she recalled her morning with Ranma. Though she still felt a little bad about deceiving him, he had talked her into putting away the finger blades and the small horns. But this time she put them in the box, and put the box on the top shelf in her closet. A place where she knew no one would look for anything.

Hearing noises in the dojo Akane peeked in on Ranma and was pleased to see that he was practicing one of his kata's. Even though he was practicing without his shirt. 'That pervert,' she thought as she watched him. Before her anger could overcome her and force her to pound him, she went back to talk to her sister.

Stepping back into the kitchen, Akane watched her sister for a moment. The fact that Kasumi seemed to have an extra spring to her step, or the fact that Kasumi almost glowed was lost on her watcher. All Akane saw was that her sister was back to normal and that she could go out with her friends tonight without worrying. "Hay Kasumi?"

"Yes little sister?" Kasumi replied with a brilliant smile.

Not sure how to bring up the subject of that ogredemon, she decided for once to try subtlety, "I'm glad you're feeling better."

"Oh my, was I feeling ill earlier?" She replied though she knew what her sister meant. She just did not want to have to explain yesterday, or how Ranma made love to her last night, and this morning in the bath… and during lunch in the kitchen… Just thinking about those times threatened to bring a blush to her face, but thankfully, she was facing away from her sister so Akane didn't see.

"So you don't remember?"

"Remember?" Kasumi asked feigning innocence though she was trying to force the memory out of her mind of when Ranma came to check on lunch. Though his intent was to check on lunch, when he held her, and then kissed her, she lost the control over herself and the two ended up having a very late lunch while trying to get dressed again.

Akane was more than slightly confused, "But… but I thought you were, well possessed?"

"I was; I do not remember being possessed?" She gave her sister an innocent smile and while it was a true statement, albeit because she was not possessed to begin with, she did feel a little guilty for lying to her. But she wanted at least one more night alone with Ranma before things started going crazy all over again.

"Oh…" Akane said and realized that Kasumi must not have remembered being possessed or not in control of herself. And though she was curious as to how they got rid of the thing, she just brushed that thought aside and was glad her sister was fine. "Well, then I guess I need to grab a few things. I'm going to be with Sayuri sleeping over at Yuka's tonight, I'll be back tomorrow!"

"Ok, be careful," Kasumi said cheerfully and waved to her sisters retreating back. As Akane ran upstairs Kasumi let out a sad sigh, 'Oh little sister, I hope you can forgive me someday for this. But if something doesn't change, then you may end up being miserable for the rest of your life, as will my Ranma-kun.'

To those that know Ranma… that really know him. They would be able to look at him as he practiced and tell that he is making mistakes. However to those that barely know him or those that just look at him and make quick observations or judgments usually will never know if he is out of step or has made a mistake. For Ranma, the kata he is working on was one he was taught while on the road with his father. It is a favorite of his; it allows him to move and practice, while freeing his mind to think. However, this time the thinking was overloading his mind and he has already made numerous mistakes, but only those that really know him or this kata, would be able to point out his mistakes. The reason for his mistakes just happened to be the very one that was making dinner as he practiced.

'What am I doing? Am I insane? I mean this is Kasumi!' He frowned as he missed another step. 'Last night was amazing… it's the best thing I ever felt… well aside from this morning in the bathroom with her… and then in the kitchen before lunch….' He lost all of his concentration and almost fell over at thinking of seeing the elder Tendo daughter nude and in the kitchen. 'I'm loosing it… I can't stop thinking about her… her lips… her arms, the way she holds me, the way I feel when I'm near her…' He finally lost his footing and fell over, but he recovered himself quickly and tumbled fast enough to keep from landing on his back.

'I'm in trouble…' he thought though he was not entirely upset about it. 'I can't believe how hard it is anymore. It's not like I planned on this to happen… or to… to… um… with her… in the kitchen… it just happened. I just walked up behind her… and… and I kissed her on the cheek… why'd I do that?' he asked himself, though the grin he got just thinking about it pretty much answered it for him. 'And then she kissed me back… and I kissed her neck… Why was I drawn to that? Though it was nice, and she smelled so good… and…' At just replaying the series of events that led to the two of them becoming naked in the kitchen caused him to both smile, and to become worried.

'Are we moving too fast? I mean, we just told each other we… we… l-l-lo-loved… each other last night. And now we can't keep our clothes on.' His face got a funny grin at that thought. And this time, it was Kasumi who pretty much stripped him and herself this afternoon. 'She wanted... me… So why do I feel so strange about it?'

He was brought out of his thoughts abruptly as the object of his minds obsession had not only walked into the dojo, but also got his attention. "Excuse me Ranma-kun."

"Huh? Oh Hi Kasumi-chan," He turned and walked towards her with a silly grin on his face not really caring anymore that he cannot think about anything else but her.

Hearing him call her that caused her to blush but she quickly tried to get herself under control. "I-I wanted to tell you that dinner is ready. And Akane has already left for her sleepover."

At the mention of that name, Ranma's mood changed, but it was not a complete reversal. Instead, he looked pensive and worried. "Yeah, Akane."

Kasumi sighed; her overly cheery mood dampened some, "Ranma-kun, you know that no matter what happens. Some will get their feelings hurt," she told him sadly.

Ranma's shoulders slumped. "I know. I just wish I could spare them that…"

She gave him a slight smile. "That is just one of the reasons I have fallen in love with you." By simply admitting it, she blushed and averted her gaze from him.

Not being used to someone actually loving him, and in doing so not trying to kill him with overly powerful glomps, Ranma was, needless to say, stunned. "Um… ah well…"

His eyes tracked her as she walked towards him. Instincts told him to run, but his feet and body would not move. Not only was his body not observing the warning that his instincts were giving him, but his mind was telling him to stay as well. 'This is Kasumi; she's not going to hurt me. But how can she love me, she deserves better than me… but she still loves me.' When she placed her arms around his neck in a loose hug, his heart started pounding. 'Oh man… this is the same feeling when we… when we um… well in the kitchen…'

As if sensing his panicked state Kasumi just placed her head against him and hugged him close, yet her arms hung loosely around him. Though she loved him, and loved her sister, she could not help but feel sorry for him and wonder, 'Why Akane… why have you done this to him? He's so afraid of everything… even me. Oh little sister, why?'

Feeling her leaning against him Ranma took a shaky breath and slowly put his arms around her. So far, every time that the two of them have got close to the other he has always been waiting for the mallet to suddenly appear and hit him. 'This is Kasumi, she's not going to hurt me,' he said to himself yet again and willed his body to relax.

When she felt him relax, Kasumi smiled though she did not let go. Or at least she did not let go right away. The two continued to stand there holding each other loosely, though anyone that might have seen them would have thought the two did not want to ever let go.

However, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end, so did their caring hug. Slowly the two released the other, and stepped back slightly. For a moment, the two just faced each other, with Ranma holding both of her hands in his. A look of love, and longing passed between them that spoke loudly about how they were feeling towards the other. While Ranma was nervous about loving someone and doing it openly, she did not seem to mind or care.

It was neither another person nor even a word spoken that broke up their hug. Instead, it was the sound of his stomach grumbling quite loudly that seemed to echo loudly in the dojo that caused the two new lovers to break their embrace. "Oh Um, I… guess…"

"D-Dinner must be getting cold…" She said softly though she did not want to move. Kasumi just giggled though when his stomach grumbled again. "I guess you are hungry this time," she told him with a slight smile that caused him to blush with a reminder of their earlier lunchtime interlude.

"Y-yeah…" he said softly. "I… um what's to eat?"

Kasumi gave him a coy smile, which caused him to blush. "One of your favorites, and this time I made it without the extra spices."

"Really, ah thanks!"

"But…" she said and let that sink in.

"But?"

"But you have to promise me that…" she prodded him to finish the thought.

Ranma gave a show of sighing, "That I have to eat slowly." Even though he sounded put out, he could not help but smile at the joy that was on her face.

Still smiling, Kasumi walked with him out of the dojo and into the house proper. Already arranged on the table were their places, on one side of the low table beside each other, which caused him to smile again as he let a fantasy play in his mind. Coming home, to eat dinner with his wife, with just placements for two at the table. For a long time he thought that he would eventually marry Akane; unfortunately, he was always worried about her ability to cook or rather, his ability to survive her cooking. But with Kasumi, everything seemed to 'fit' right. He could not really put his thoughts into words about how things just seemed to 'fit.' But whatever the reason, he was happy about it.

As they ate dinner, not a word was spoken, but they were quite content and happy with the evening. There were no fights, yelling, screaming, and especially no rivals or other fiancée's showing up. In short, it just seemed perfect.

Ranma was blissfully unaware that information had been passed along to Ukyo, Ryoga, Shampoo and others that he supposedly had gone to another city with Genma to avoid Nodoka again, who also conveniently, was following them to said city. Shampoo and Cologne had quickly left in hopes of talking to the Saotome woman, as Cologne had no doubt that she could convince his mother that Shampoo was the best match for Ranma and therefore get rid of that silly agreement that the panda and crying-man had. Ukyo went to, as she thought, 'protect' Ranma's mother from the Amazons.

For Ryoga and Mousse, they both rushed after Ranma to avenge whatever wrongs they thought he had committed. Kasumi just sighed mentally and shook her head at how silly and childish all the others seemed to get with just a little misinformation. Kodachi was the worst, Kasumi thought. 'She basically went off running to the south when I mentioned Ranma might have gone that way.' With another mental headshake, Kasumi cleared those thoughts out of her mind and just enjoyed the evening she had with Ranma.

Despite her wishes, she knew that sooner or later - which would unfortunately be a lot sooner than the much later that she wanted - her uninterrupted and intimate time with Ranma was going to come to an end.

That night, though the two of them slept in the same bed again, it was without a number of their previous nights activities. However, it was not without the previous nights love. Even though Ranma and Kasumi were physically quiet; their hearts spoke louder than their voices as they just held each other close. For Ranma, even though he actively chose to go to sleep in her room, with her in his arms. It still took his mind a bit of time convincing itself the next morning when he woke up that he as not in some strange but living dream.

Both of them held reservations about what the next day was going to be like. They had to not only learn to control themselves better, but deal with how their families were going to handle this sudden change in their relationship. Thankfully, Kasumi had set things up so that they'd first deal with her sisters, and then their fathers, as opposed to all of them at once.

Yet while Kasumi had an idea that might work to get Shampoo to stop chasing Ranma, she had no clue how to convince Ukyo to give up her claim. While it may have been a vain hope, she hoped that she'd get an idea while she slept. 'Maybe after things have settled with my family, Auntie Nodoka might have an idea about the others,' she thought to herself.

To be continued… (Yes, there is still more to go. Like what happens when Akane and Nabiki get home as well as the rest of the family. As a teaser… I am currently planning the fight between Kasumi and Shampoo over Ranma, a fight where Kasumi drops a big surprise right before the first hit.)


	4. The sisters return it's not pretty

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ nor any of the characters. If I did, things would be a lot different. But alas, all I can do is dream and think… what if…

And speaking of 'What if', after reading "Evil Kasumi II" by Targhan on The Church of Ranma and Kasumi; http:cork. I got this idea.

And now, "The sisters return... it's not pretty."

Somewhere around mid-day on Sunday a tired Nabiki strolled into the house, "I'm home," she called out and struggled to the living room where she dropped herself on the couch.

"Oh my, Nabiki are you all right?" A worried Kasumi asked as she entered the room and went to take care of her sister.

"I'm fine. Just tired." The middle Tendo said with a yawn. When she noticed her older sisters questioning look she smiled. "After the first day a group of us went out for drinks and I slept late the second day…"

"Nabiki! You're underage, you shouldn't be drinking."

The younger sister just waved it off. "I didn't drink much; I've watched others to see how they act when drinking." Though she left off whom she had been watching, Kasumi knew.

"I just wish father would not drink so much…"

"Don't sweat it sis," Nabiki told her softly. "He is just a prime example of what not to do."

Kasumi just sighed; it was bad enough that their father was loosing respect among the three of them, but to be used as an example of what not to do, things were getting a bit much to handle at times. She just hoped that once things were in the open, then she and Ranma would be able have at least a little peace without her having to find a way to get everyone else to leave. 'Maybe Nabiki can be a big help… after she finds out about us," Kasumi thought. However, before Kasumi could say a word another voice interrupted them. "

"I'm home!"

"In here Akane!" Nabiki shouted to their youngest sister.

When Akane entered the room, Kasumi began to think that this might be the best time to put the next part of her plan into place. "Akane, I have a question."

"Sure big sister," Akane said with a smile.

With an inward sigh, Kasumi could only wonder how long her little sister would call her that, and how long will that smile last. Steeling her nerves and schooling her features, she asked the big question. "Akane, will you ever marry Ranma?"

"What! Marry that jerk! I thought you were on my side?"

"I am. I have just recently found a way for you to break the engagement, while retaining our family's honor."

Nabiki's eyebrows rose at this and said, "Oh really?" Though Akane could only blink and look at her sisters questionably.

"I've given it some thought Akane, and sooner or later you will have to either marry him, or set him free. But if you don't marry him then our family will loose honor." Nabiki slightly nodded at this fact.

"But… I…" Akane could only sputter.

"And if you do marry him, then where will the two of you sleep?"

This broke her out of her confusion. "That pervert's not going to sleep in -my- room!"

"But if you are husband and wife, then our fathers will demand that you to not only sleep in the same room, but in the same bed." As she said this Akane began to look very worried at that prospect. "And sooner or later, the fathers, and I know Auntie Nodoka is wanting grandchildren and…"

"NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT! That pervert is never going to see me naked!"

Kasumi sighed and Nabiki shook her head. If Akane had those kinds of ideas about her married life with Ranma, then they would be fixing their room all the time and eventually they'd run out of money no matter what she did. Hearing Akane being so adamant about it, only make Kasumi's resolve that much stronger. "That's why I've found a way for you to not marry him, while not losing honor."

Akane smiled, and looked at her sister hopefully. "Really?"

"Yes, it's in the form of an honor contract. All you have to do is sign it and…"

"Give it to me! Where's a pen?" Akane asked frantically, she had heard enough. If this got her out of having to show her naked body to Ranma or what she'd have to do to have kids with him, then she was ready to sign yesterday.

Kasumi hid a smile, pulled out a few slips of paper, and handed them to Akane, while Nabiki handed her a pen that she always carried with her. With barely a glance at the page, Akane grabbed the pen and signed her name. Both Kasumi and Nabiki shook their heads at their little sister. The middle Tendo daughter already had an idea about where this might be going.

"There, done!" Akane nearly sang as she handed the paper to Kasumi and the pen back to Nabiki.

"Almost," Kasumi told her and then handed the papers to Nabiki. "You need to sign as well."

"Oh… ok." Nabiki took the papers and read though the first few paragraphs. The more she read the wider her eyes became. "Um sis… are you sure about this?" Hearing this Kasumi could only smile and nod her head. "If you're sure…" she said again and then signed her name. Now she knew that something had happened in her absence, and given what she had read, something that would change things. Now all she had to do was think of how she could protect her older sister and make money for the family in the process. When the papers and pen were handed to Kasumi, she quickly signed her name on it as well.

Smiling in satisfaction, Kasumi asked her youngest sister, "Akane, would you please ask Ranma to come here."

"What ever," she said and left.

"Ok, what happened this weekend Kasumi?" Nabiki demanded as soon as Akane was out of the room.

"Nothing much, though I have had a lot of time lately to think about this."

"And you fell for him… what about Shampoo, or Ukyo or that nut-case Kodachi?"

"Do not worry sister; I have a way for Ranma to get out of his Amazon troubles."

"And what of Ukyo or Kodachi?"

Sadly, Kasumi looked down. "I have an idea for them both, but I may need your help, as well as Auntie Nodoka."

"I'll help, but are you sure you want to do this?"

"Positive…" she said just as Akane came back into the room with a nervous looking Ranma.

"Um… what's up?" He asked and Nabiki grinned at him. Her grin reminded many of a sharks grin, but before Nabiki or Ranma could say a word, Kasumi interrupted.

"Ranma, I need you to sign this."

"What is it?"

She just gave him a radiant smile that he seemed to soak up a little reassurance from. "This is a way to handle at least some of your Honor bound problems." Ranma knew that Kasumi meant the Fiancées.

"Really? Just by signing this?"

"Before you sign it, I want you to read it…" she told him then looked to Nabiki. "All of it if you please… and out loud."

Looking at Akane nervously Ranma looked back at Kasumi who nodded him to go on; he cleared his throat and swallowed to dampen his dry throat. "Um... ok…" His nervousness returned full force. Holding up the papers, he began to read, and though he did not understand all of what was said he began to understand it the more he read.

"We the undersigned- Tendo Kasumi, Tendo Nabiki and Tendo Akane being Tendo Soun's natural born daughters; and Saotome Ranma being Saotome Genma's natural born son- do hereby acknowledge the agreement between Tendo Soun and Saotome Genma made before any heirs were produced. Superseding any and all other agreements made after, that there would be a union of the two 'Anything Goes' martial arts schools via marriage. Saotome Genma having one heir, Saotome Ranma and Tendo Soun having three heirs; Tendo Kasumi, Tendo Nabiki and Tendo Akane.

By agreement of the three Tendo sisters, the union will be handled as is tradition by the oldest natural born daughter, being Tendo Kasumi, thus fulfilling the honor agreement between the two families."

After reading that far Akane's mouth dropped open and she looked at Ranma and Kasumi. But before she could say a word, he kept reading apparently too engrossed in the paper to notice the sisters' reactions.

"Said agreement to unite the two heirs will be held at the discretion of the two heirs in question and any act made by the parents of behalf of the two heirs without the prior knowledge or consent of said heirs will not be allowed.

As such, it will be up to Saotome Ranma and Tendo Kasumi to decide when they are ready to unite the two schools via marriage on their own accord. It shall also be up to the two heirs as to the time, place and location of said union to occur."

As he started to read the next part, his eyes began to open wider than they should be able to and Akane began to see red.

"An heir will be produced, being the child of Saotome Ranma and Tendo Kasumi, as agreed for the unification of the two martial arts schools. However said heir and its upbringing will be at the discursion of Saotome Ranma and Tendo Kasumi as to the time of its birth, be it male or female."

Ranma gulped and he could feel the heat generated by Akane's growing anger. As he read the next part, Nabiki went from snickering at him, to having her own mouth hanging open, as she did not read the last paragraph.

"By signing this document the daughters of Tendo Soun and the son of Saotome Genma do hereby pledge to uphold this agreement and pledge to not use this agreement to force, coerce or take advantage of the two heirs in any way be it for monetary gain or otherwise."

'Damn!' was all Nabiki could think of.

He was shaking in nervousness when he stopped reading. Looking up at Kasumi, his eyes were asking if she was sure. With a slight nod of her head, Ranma gulped then signed his name as well.

Betrayed, that was the first and strongest emotion to fill her mind as she watched Ranma sign this. He read it; he knew what it meant, and he signed it, right in front of her! 'Why would she do this to me? No, she wouldn't betray me... it must have been him…' "RANMA YOU PERVERT! What did you do to my sister?"

N-Nothing!" He declared, though Nabiki could see though his hesitation. Something had happened and she was going to find out what.

'There has to be something…' he was lying, she knew it. "YOU LIAR! HONOR-LESS BASTARD! I'm not going to allow you to…" a sudden slap across her face broke her out of her anger and all eyes were fixated on Kasumi as she held her hand from where she had slapped her sister.

"Akane, you have said you do not wish to marry him, but I do." She said standing firm and between Ranma and Akane. "I have watched him and I know how honorable Ranma is, and how kind he is." Nabiki blinked at looked at her sister in surprise, but Akane was not hearing it, she was too surprised that Kasumi had struck her. "I offered you a chance. For you to break your engagement, but for us to not loose honor." Nabiki blinked again and realized the way Kasumi said that was the key.

"Fine! If you want this freak! Then you can…" she was interrupted by another slap.

"That is my fiancé that you are talking about Akane. He is not a freak nor is he honor-less."

Kasumi was going to say more, but Akane turned around and being confused and crying, she ran up the stairs to her room.

"Ok," Nabiki said trying to cut the tension. "What happened this weekend?"

"As I said sister, I have thought about this a great deal and have decided on this as the best way to solve our family's honor."

"So this is about honor only?" Nabiki's left eyebrow shot up questioningly.

"No," Kasumi said with a soft sigh as she recalled the way Ranma had held her that first night and said he loved her.

Ranma stepped up behind Kasumi and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you ok with all this Kasumi-chan?"

Turning around, she looked into his eyes and then started crying. "No… I knew she'd be upset… but I had to do this… I had to…"

To Nabiki's surprise, Ranma placed his arms around Kasumi and pulled the older girl closer to him allowing her to cry on his shoulder as he gave her a comforting hug. "It'll be ok," he told her softly.

Seeing Kasumi crying, Ranma comforting her, only added to the shock that Nabiki had just been given. It seemed impossibly to her that in less than two days time, Kasumi was the one engaged to Ranma instead of Akane… But to actually see this happen, Nabiki was about ready to pass out from the shock. But she held out. After waiting for her sister to calm down she asked again, "Ok, so you say you've been thinking about this for a while, but come on sis! I leave for barely two days… TWO days! And suddenly everything been turned into a mess."

"Well… you see…" Ranma started then sighed. He didn't think there was a way to explain this.

"I… I think I should… explain…"

"You damn well better!" Nabiki yelled.

Pulling herself together, Kasumi told her sister about how she had planned to get everyone out of the house for those two days. She told her about the fake contest to get their fathers out of the house, and about how she setup the sleepovers for Akane. Though she left out the parts about the other fiancées, and how she got Ranma to stay with her that night, she did explain how she had been thinking about him for so long.

Hearing all of this, Nabiki did the only thing she could do, she fainted.

Ranma caught her before she fell with his left arm. While holding the unconscious Nabiki on his left, and the surprised looking Kasumi on his right, Ranma was unsure of what to do.

"Oh my, I think she took that better than I thought…"

"Huh?"

To be continued… (Yes, there is still more to go. As a teaser… I am currently planning the fight between Kasumi and Shampoo over Ranma where Kasumi drop a big surprise. Especially considering she is the eldest in a family that has a Dojo.)


	5. Nabiki’s Migraine

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ nor any of the characters. If I did, things would be a lot different. But alas, all I can do is dream and think… what if…

And speaking of 'What if', after reading "Evil Kasumi II" by Targhan on The Church of Ranma and Kasumi,I got this idea.

Note: I apologize to everyone that has been waiting for this. Every time I would look at it I would think that it needs more, but I think I finally got it. Sadly, in my haste to get this out I have sipped getting it pre-read. So if you see any glaring errors, please let me know.

- - - - - - - - - -

And now, "Nabiki's Migraine."

"Ok, so let me get this straight…" Nabiki said as calmly as she could. "You both have been falling for each other for what… weeks, years?" She asked as she tried to get a handle on what she had been told. After waking up, Nabiki had been interrogating her sister and Ranma for some time and she was having a hard time not only believing it, but believing it has actually happened in the space of two days.

"Well…" Kasumi said softly. "Ever since Ranma has moved in I have been watching him. And everyday he does the best he can to be honorable and every time something has happened to Akane, then Ranma has been right there to help her."

"So you've had a thing for him since he moved in?" Nabiki asked with a tired groan.

"Oh my no. It's grown over time."

Ranma, for his part, was just sitting beside Kasumi looking sheepish and trying to keep from being yelled at any more. But it didn't save him from Nabiki's inquisition. "Ok, spill it."

"Spill what?" He tried to ask innocently.

Nabiki did not fall for it though. "Tell me, how long have you had the hots for my sister."

"Hots… um… well you see… I…"

"Nabiki, that is not proper."

"Who the hell cares if it's proper? I want to know how long this has been going on!"

"Well, you see… I… I didn't really understand myself until the other day… but you know…"

"No, I don't know."

"Well, Kasumi's always been really kind to me… ya know, never hitting me when I say or do something stupid and…"

Nabiki rubbed her temples. "Oh yea, Saotome, and we know you and that mouth of yours."

"Well, um… I… I for a long time just thought that she's like a big sister, and such…"

"Oh I bet she loves hearing this…" Nabiki said wryly and looked to her sister, only to see that instead of Kasumi looking upset, she looked proud. 'What the…' she thought but was interrupted.

"But after time, things just changed. I… I didn't really; well still don't know when it all changed. But I know that… that… that I l-l-Love… Kasumi." Nabiki's mouth dropped open at hearing him actually say that. Nabiki further went into shock when she noticed Kasumi was leaning closer to Ranma and giving him a hug… a hug that he was not pulling away from… but actually somewhat returning.

"This has got to be a dream… a very bad dream…"

"Why's that?" Kasumi asked sweetly.

"Because! This is Ranma! You know, Ranma Saotome! The guy that has who knows how many girls after him and he's the most arrogant and annoying jerk around!" Nabiki's voice rose from her normal at the beginning to where she was almost yelling the last part.

Before Ranma could say anything, he heard Kasumi laughing slightly. He turned to look at her questionably. "Yes, I know this is Ranma Saotome, the same one that showed up on our doorstep as a girl just after our father said that we were engaged to him. The very one that we were both afraid of. The very one that I have grown to love, and to trust. But he's not an 'annoying jerk.' That is only how others that don't know the real Ranma see him." Ranma was grinning from ear to ear as he listened to Kasumi.

"You don't get it do you?" Nabiki groaned out. "What about Ukyo…. Or Shampoo? Remember? Obstacles are for killing?" She leveled a death glare at Ranma. "You pulled my sister into this… what're you going to do now? String her along like you have the others? Or will you actually choose one? And then what? Well? At least Akane could protect herself somewhat… but…" She looked at her sister. "Please… don't do this."

Ranma sighed. "That's one reason I've been s-s-scared about admitting this." Nabiki had thought that she could not be surprised by anything else, she was wrong. Her mind just could not comprehend Ranma saying that he was scared. "I don't know how to get out of those things… Ukyo wants me to marry her and be a cook or whatever, and Shampoo just wants me to go back to China… and… and… damnit… I don't know what I want to do. But I know I ain't going back with them."

Nabiki let out a frustrated groan. "That's it… I'm not leaving this house for a weekend like that again!"

"Oh, but I don't think I can get everything setup like that again."

She blinked, and looked at Kasumi. "What?"

"Oh… well… you see…" Kasumi said while fidgeting a little.

"Kasumi setup the whole weekend. She got Akane to go to that sleepover, and then got Pops, Mr. Tendo and the old letch outta the house and…"

"Wait a second… what do you mean?"

"Well, you see…" Kasumi said with a weak grin. "Since you were leaving anyway, I was able to talk to Yuki's mother at the market and was able to get the sleep over arranged."

"You… You set her up?" Nabiki was going into shock, her sister, her sweet and innocent sister setup Akane to get her out of the house. "Both of them?" she asked and was surprised to see Kasumi nod her head. "And the trip?"

"I took some out or my savings, and setup the trip to look like we won it and…"

Ranma broke in laughing hard, "And I'd love to see that old letches face when he finds out where he went!"

Nabiki's eyebrow twitched. "Where did you send them?"

"Well, you see… they went to a small island resort that has no airport of its own, so at the least, grandfather will be unable to leave the island for at least four days…"

"Where?" Nabiki asked again.

Kasumi looked sheepish. "To a resort for transvestites."

"Trans…vest…ites?" Nabiki asked slowly.

"Yep, the old letch needs to grope real women to get his power boost, but since they're part guy, then he'll end up being drained instead!" By this point Ranma was laughing hard enough to fall over.

Nabiki fell backwards from where she was kneeling at the table and looked at her sister strangely. "I don't believe it…"

Kasumi nodded her head. "It's true. I needed to get everyone but Ranma and myself out of the house. I had to find out if it was just me. But… but he said he loved me… and…" Kasumi turned a bright red as she suddenly recalled the night's worth of passions that they shared… and the following day…

Nabiki, thankfully, in her stupor did not notice her sisters blush. "This can't be real… I've been out-scammed… by my own sister…"

Seeing the confusion on her sisters' face, Kasumi got Ranma's attention in the only way she thought she could, she kissed him on the cheek.

As soon as he felt her lips against his skin, he could not help but blush. "Yea Kasumi?"

"Ranma, would you go out to the dojo for a while?"

"Um…" He looked at her and then at Nabiki. "Ok sure." So saying he stood and before he left, he gave her a kiss on the cheek as well which caused her to blush.

Having been shocked out of her stupor, Nabiki watched as Ranma willingly gave Kasumi a kiss, and then left. She turned her eyes to her older sister to see that Kasumi was watching Ranma leave and her cheeks were still blushing. "Is he really Ranma?"

"Huh?" Kasumi asked as she tore her eyes off Ranma.

"Is that really him? You know the clueless boy wonder?"

"Oh my… Nabiki you shouldn't call him clueless."

Her younger sister blinked at that as Kasumi did not complain about the boy wonder part. "But… this is Ranma… are you sure that's really him, and are you sure you want to do this."

Kasumi nodded her head. "Yes, this is what I want. I've very rarely been given a choice as to what I wanted in my life. And the first big choice I got… I got scared."

"Scared?"

"Yes… I didn't think I wanted to get married, and never experience life outside of this house. I thought since Ranma was younger than me, that things would be boring."

"One thing we know about Ranma, is that just living around him is never boring."

With a slight giggle, Kasumi agreed. "Yes, life has been interesting."

"So what now?"

Sighing, Kasumi closed her eyes and gathered her thoughts. "Now, we move on. Ranma has been worried about how Akane would react to this…"

"Akane! Worried about how she will react? You two had better start worrying about how the others will react."

"I know, which I why I wanted to talk to you about Ukyo and Kodachi."

"What about Shampoo?" Nabiki railed.

"Don't worry about her. I know of a way to handle it."

"Handle it? You've got to be kidding me!" Kasumi just shook her head as Nabiki looked at her suspiciously. "Then what is it?"

"It would be better if you and even Ranma did not know just yet."

"It would be better?" Nabiki almost screeched, then she gave her sister a contemplative look before asking, "What are you planning sister?"

Kasumi sighed again. "It is just a delicate matter, and the more people that know, then the more chances that it will fail." Nabiki groaned loudly. "I'm sorry little sister, but this is something I must do on my own."

Nabiki knew her sister well enough that when she made up her mind there was no way to change it, no matter how much she wanted to. "Then what about the others?"

"I am not sure about Kuonji-san, and there are some legal issues dealing with them as well."

"Yeah, like the fact that Saotome ran off with her dowry, and the fact that she either has to marry him, or kill him."

"That's not completely true," Ranma said from the doorway.

"Oh my, Ranma how long have you been listening to us?" Kasumi asked sweetly and with a slight blush. Nabiki scowled, she hated to have her conversations listened in on.

"Long enough to hear you talking about Ukyo…" he sighed and then approached Kasumi. "I'm sorry, but I just can't concentrate on practicing right now."

"You… can't workout?" Nabiki asked incredulously.

"Not right now. Besides, Ukyo said that she has to become a Saotome or kill pops an I."

This caused the middle daughter to blink. "She has to become a Saotome?"

"Oh, I thought she had to marry you?"

"She wants to, but… I mean, I care for her an all… but it's, I mean…"

Nabiki glared at him, she hated it when information was withheld from her, "Spill it Ranma."

He shot Nabiki a glare and then took a deep breath. Before letting it out, he took Kasumi's hand in his. "Alright… I love her… but not like I do Kasumi, okay?"

She had thought that nothing Ranma could say would surprise her…. Nabiki was wrong. "You love her? You mean you can actually say it?"

"Yeah… it's not easy ya know. But, it's like... I mean… she was my best friend and well I thought she was a he an all…"

"Ranma," Kasumi said sweetly, "you're babbling."

"Sorry…" he said and looked at her.

"Anyway…" Nabiki said and cleared her throat as Ranma and Kasumi had started just staring at each other and blushing slightly. Her tactic worked as it stopped the two of them and got their attention. "You said that you love her, but not like Kasumi, right?" He nodded at her and she continued. "Friends only?"

"Um… well… I… I guess not, I mean I care what happens to her an I don't wanna see her get hurt."

"Hmm, well I think something can be worked out. But I don't think she'll go for it," Nabiki told them seriously. "You've been stringing her along for a long time, and she's had her dreams on marrying you."

"I know…" he said miserably. "I don't… I mean it's not like I really wanted all this. But I didn't know what ta do. Ya see if I were to just ignore her then it'd only make her madder and hurt her. But…"

"But by stringing her along, now it's going to hurt her even more."

"I know…" he said softly.

"Well…" Nabiki said softly as she saw the obvious pain covering him. "I'll see what I can find out, but it's not going to be easy."

"I know… I just wish that none of 'em got hurt."

"That's your problem," Nabiki almost growled. At his blank look, she tried not to loose control and yell at him. "You don't want anyone to get hurt, but when you're trying to keep them from getting hurt, you're only going to make them hurt even more later on." Evan as she finished saying that she could see Ranma slump over.

- - - - - - - - - -

To be continued… (Yes, there is still more to go. As a teaser… I am currently planning the fight between Kasumi and Shampoo over Ranma where Kasumi drop a big surprise. Especially considering she is the eldest in a family that has a Dojo.)


	6. Um

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ nor any of the characters. If I did, things would be a lot different. But alas, all I can do is dream and think… what if…

And speaking of 'What if', after reading "Evil Kasumi II" by Targhan on The Church of Ranma and Kasumi; http/cork. I got this idea.

Sorry for the long delay in updated, but sometimes when writing my ideas sound good to me, but when I write them they sound horrible. This idea came from a conversation I had with Dennisud. He took the idea and went one way with it, while I took it another.

And now, "Ummm."

Everyone has said it at least some time in his or her lives, but this time it seemed to mean a lot more than the standard inability to express oneself vocally. For Ranma all he could do was sit there numbly and say "Ummm," while Kasumi said her familiar "Oh my!"

For the two of them, it had been two days since Nabiki and Akane returned to the Dojo. Two days where Nabiki tried to grasp the fact that her dear sweet innocent naïve older sister that seemed oblivious to the word, had outsmarted the entire family and now Ranma and Kasumi were engage to be married. It still seemed hard to believe. Yet she had signed her own name on the very document that proved it. The middle Tendo daughter looked between Ranma's dumbfounded look and Kasumi's embarrassed expression.

'Somehow I expected more of a reaction out of them… especially Ranma…' Nabiki thought and then sighed mentally. She looked around the table once more. At the head of the table sat her father as usual, but he looked on the verge of exploding into tears, or into anger at any moment. Between their father and Kasumi sat Nabiki. Just the other side of Kasumi was Ranma, which was an interesting switch but considering the current situation, it was warranted. Then at the foot of the table was Genma who looked more confused and unsure of things than he ever had.

However, the two sat opposite the three teens were the ones that held everyone's gaze. Akane sat beside Ryoga though the both of them did not look at all pleased with why they were here. However, Nabiki could understand that as when she got home and found out what had transpired just a short time ago she herself was in shock.

"Akane…" their father said slowly as he tried to reign in his anger. "I do not understand… why have you done this? Why have you dishonored the family this way?"

"I… I… I didn't mean to…" She said softly and looked to be near tears.

"DIDN'T MEAN TO!" He shouted. "AKANE! Do you realize that you've not only dishonored the Tendo Saotome Agreement, but you've dishonored the family with your actions!"

"I… I…"

"Leave her alone!" Ryoga said trying not to quake under Soun's smoldering demon-head.

"Leave her alone! You boy are a disgrace and a dishonor to martial artists everywhere! I had thought that your presence would finally get Ranma to become jealous enough to marry Akane, but now… now that is ruined! Oh the schools will never be joined and my daughter has brought shame on the family!"

"But father…" Kasumi tried to get his attention.

"No buts! I have been in HELL for several days on that accursed island with the…" he suddenly shivered as did Genma, "…Master… and when I get home instead of finding my daughter and her fiancée enjoying married life… I find…" He suddenly jumped up and looked ready to kill Ryoga. For his part, Ryoga looked ready to die over what happened.

Ranma still sat gaping at the two of them. Had anyone else known that he and Kasumi had been doing things like what Akane and Ryoga were caught doing, then the others might have had a clue as to Kasumi's embarrassed expression or his dumbfounded look. 'I thought she would've been mad… or something… she seemed pretty mad there for a while. But… but this is kinda sudden… I mean I knew Ryoga liked her… but… but…' However, even the shock of walking in on Akane and Ryoga like they did, didn't help him understand completely. Though no one else at the table really understood either.

Looking again at his fiancée's father, Ranma had to wonder if the old man was going start screaming again, or was he going to break down and cry. However, whatever he was going to do was interrupted by a knock at the door. "I'll get it," Kasumi said and quickly left the table.

"Ryoga… you will do what honor demands… you have abused your honor too much lately," Soun said sternly though Ranma kept silent about the wailing father's own problems with honor.

"I… ok…" the lot boy said and hung his head.

"But daddy! I don't want to marry Ryoga… or anyone! I… I'm too young!" the youngest Tendo tried hard to persuade her father not to go though with this not noticing the way Ryoga flinched.

"So you… you… with him… and… and you don't want to get married!" Soun wailed.

Everyone could tell that he was about to say more when Kasumi interrupted them. "Father… the priest is here."

Ranma gulped as he looked at the Shinto priest that stood beside Kasumi. He knew that one day he would have to do this too. His thoughts were interrupted when Soun began again. "Thank you for coming so quickly!"

"No worries!" Said the old man, "Besides you are the one paying me for my services at this hour."

Nabiki groaned and shot her sisters an annoyed look. That look died when she noticed Akane staring at the priest. Then in what was by far the fastest Shinto ceremony that she's ever known, her little sister, was now Akane Hibiki.

And then the wall exploded as a very upset and angry looking purple haired Amazon brandished her weapons threateningly. "You violent-kitchen-destroyer no marry Airen!" She shouted as she pointed her weapons at Akane.

"Um… Shampoo… Akane's already married…" Ranma tried to tell her.

"NOOO!" The Amazon screamed then shouted, "I challenge you for Airen!"

Akane just blinked as did Ryoga who was standing beside Akane. Ranma tapped the Amazon on the shoulder. "Um, Shampoo?"

"Not now Airen, you no can see Shampoo try save you from marry…" she suddenly stopped as she realized that she was standing beside Ranma and Akane was standing beside Ryoga. "What go on here?"

Nabiki smirked, "That's what we have been trying to find out."

"But… Stupid-duck-boy say he saw Ranma and Akane…"

"Oh my, but that wasn't Ranma, that was Ryoga," Kasumi told the Amazon.

"Ryoga… you mean kitchen-destroyer marry pig-boy?"

"YES! This boy dishonored my poor baby!"

Genma remained quiet. There were not many things he knew besides 'properly' training his boy in the martial arts. However, he knew not to say a word around his best friend while he was like this.

Shampoo looked around the room. She saw the sadness that seemed to radiate off the pig-boy and his new bride as well as the stunned confusion from everyone else. "This too too strange…"

"You got that right!" Ranma broke in. "I was helpin' Kasumi with her shoppin' today an when I got home I found the old men down here playing games and drinkin' while Akane was upstairs yellin' her head off."

"I was -not- yelling!"

"Oh my, but little sister, we heard you from the gate and I'm sure that the neighbors must have heard as well."

Akane's face turned a bright red, but not from anger. "My life is ruined!"

No one happened to notice the absolute look of depression that surrounded Ryoga.

"Boy, we thought you were with her!" Genma said at the wrong time. When everyone looked at him, he merely splashed himself with water and pretended to be a simple panda.

"Ok, so you thought that Akane and I were up there and because of that it was ok?"

"Well son," Soun tried. "You were Akane's fiancée; we thought that you two had overcome your differences…"

"It's not like we wanted to!" Akane shouted drawing everyone's attention. "I just wanted to get back at Ranma…"

"By having sex with Ryoga?" Nabiki challenged.

"NO! I didn't want to with anyone!" She said ignoring the full-blown sulk Ryoga was in. "One moment Ryoga and I were talking about how to get back at Ranma… and then…"

Shampoo just blinked as she looked around the room. "This too too strange…" she said again.

"You can say that again," Ranma told the Amazon, then sighed. "I guess that's why Mousse flew off so fast…"

"What Airen mean?"

"Well usually he's always tryin' to get into a fight, but when he flew right over me like I wasn't even there… I guess he was trying to fly back to you and tell you what he saw… never though the jerk liked spying like that…"

"You're right Ranma," Kasumi added. "When he left the yard he seemed to be flying straight towards the café. You don't think that he saw Ryoga and Akane without his glasses and thought Ryoga was you, do you…"

Nabiki groaned. 'And this is the girl that outsmarted us all?'

"Eh, yer probably right."

None of them noticed Akane's burning red face from her blush at knowing how many people saw her in the thralls of ecstasy with Ryoga. However, Ryoga had had enough, "RANMA! This is all your fault!"

"What? How?" The pig-tailed boy asked as Ryoga tried to attack him.

"I'll kill you! I swear it! You hurt Akane… you probably forced yourself on Kasumi! Who knows what you've done to…"

His tirade was abruptly cut off as Ranma quickly and mercilessly dropped the lost boy to the ground. "Don't you ever talk that way about Kasumi…" He threatened his rival. "I don't care what you say about me, but leave her outta this or I'm gonna make Akane a widow…" With the sheer vehemence in his voice as well as the cold tone, it seemed to strike everyone, especially Ryoga. Ranma had never threatened to kill anyone, but to threaten to kill someone like this was unheard of.

Ryoga though, had had enough. Not only had Akane tried to get his help to make Ranma jealous… but she wanted him to pretend to date her so that she could get Ranma back! 'And then… then… we did that… and… and she never wanted to with me… it's all his fault!' Ryoga mentally screamed. Some would have said that Ryoga got what he always wanted; he was now married to Akane. However, Akane didn't want him… they only got married because they had to. Not because she wanted to, and he could tell that Akane still wanted the jerk of a rival that he had. "I'll Kill You!" Ryoga shouted and then started to glow a sickly green and prepared to launch his best attack not caring that beside Ranma was both Shampoo and Kasumi. "Shi… Shi…"

However, his attack was ruined as Ranma jumped him and began attacking. "You idiot!" Ranma shouted as he punched Ryoga in the throat taking away the lost boy's voice and concentration. "You could've hurt someone!" Ranma followed that with several hard hits to Ryoga's stomach taking away his ability to breathe. "I don't care if ya wanna try an kill me, but leave Kasumi and the outers outta this!" He shouted and using the Chestnut's Fist technique, he began hitting Ryoga as hard and as fast as he could.

Normally, such a move would not hurt Ryoga much… however since Ranma was glowing a dark purple himself as well as being really mad, there was a lot more power in his attacks. In what was the shortest match between Ranma and Ryoga… Ryoga found himself in a lot of pain, misery, and sitting as a pig in the koi pond looking at his hated rival.

Akane sighed as she saw proof again that Ryoga was indeed P-chan. When her father, Kasumi as well as the Saotome's barged into her room and saw her mostly nude bouncing on top of a mostly nude Ryoga they had used a pail of cold water on the both of them. While it brought Akane out of her sexual frenzy, it also showed her that Ryoga… was P-chan. That fact was driven home later after her father tried to kill the boy and then splashed him with hot water reversing the change. In all, Akane wanted to scream at the injustice of it all. For so long she had been screaming at Ranma for picking on P-chan whenever she took the pig into her room. And now she truly understood.

Her musings were interrupted when Shampoo suddenly threw herself at Ranma. "Airen you save Shampoo!"

As it was, only Shampoo and Ryoga missed the sheepish and apologetic look that Ranma shot Kasumi as the Amazon hugged him.

Ryoga pulled himself out of the water and looked at Akane and then Ranma. Akane had a longing expression on her face and Ranma looked worried over something. He was about to sigh, when a kettle was placed before him. Looking up he flinched upon seeing Nabiki.

"Get changed and get inside." She said simply and rubbed the bridge of her nose. However, upon entering the house she wondered how they were going to get rid of the Amazon, then said Amazon got rid of herself.

"Ai-yah! Have go café and tell great-grandmother that Mousse tell bad lie."

"Um, sure…" Ranma told her as the bubbly Amazon happily left the Tendo home. After watching her go, he sighed. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Now Ranma, things won't be so bad." Kasumi told him as she moved to beside him.

"I hope you're right," he mumbled and without thinking, he took her hand in his. For her part, all Kasumi did was blush slightly. However, around the room, others noticed this and had decidedly different reactions.

When Akane saw that he was holding Kasumi's hand she wanted to scream and yell at him for doing perverted things wither sister. However, she was held back by the images in her mind of the perverted things she did with Ryoga not that long ago. And even still, she could not figure out how they went from arguing about making Ranma jealous to kissing and then… then… Her face turned a bright red as she pictured some of those things.

Nabiki just sighed and shook her head at seeing Ranma and Kasumi together like this. Her only thought being, 'Good luck sis, you're going to need it.'

Out of the fathers, only Genma noticed his boy holding Kasumi's hand. 'What the… what's the meaning of this?' Quickly he went to the kitchen and retrieved another kettle of hot water and reverted himself back to normal.

While he was gone, Ranma could not help but sigh again. "Ya know, I wonder where' she's been…"

"What do you mean Saotome?" Nabiki almost snapped.

"Well, it's just been quiet around here for a while, an I was wondering where everyone's been."

Nabiki suddenly looked thoughtful and realized how many her dear sweet innocent and naïve older sister tricked everyone. "Ukyo was asking about you as well Ranma. Seems she was unable to find you or your mother for the past several days."

Ranma blinked then asked, "She's asking about me… how do you know?"

"Because," she said exasperated, "I was talking to her when Mousse jumped out at us yelling about Shampoo."

"I bet she loved that," he said dryly.

"You guessed it. She sent him flying with her spatula so we could get back to business."

"What kind of business?" He asked while Soun just tried to calm his nerves.

"It seems someone gave her some bad information. She thought that you and your mom took a trip into Tokyo to do some shopping."

"She did… where would she…" He paused as he felt Kasumi's hand tighten a little around his. "Oh…"

"Yeah, 'Oh' is right…" Nabiki smirked at his discomfort.

"Oh my… I believe that is my fault… I thought that Auntie had said that she was going to take Ranma shopping in Tokyo…"

"Um... Kasumi-chan… she said she wanted to, not that we were…"

Soun may have not noticed them holding hands, but he was not too far gone to notice the term of affection Ranma just used. "Kasumi…"

"Boy… what's the meaning of this?" Genma suddenly asked as he entered the room.

"Meaning of what?" He asked while still holding Kasumi's hand.

"Oh for the love of…" Nabiki grumbled and jerked two pieces of paper out of her pocket. The first one she handed to her father, the second to Genma. "Here, read this." Ranma blinked and looked at Nabiki who just shrugged her shoulders. "I made extra's incase someone tries to destroy one."

"Ranma… this... this…" Soun tried to say though his hands were trembling.

"Boy…. You mean… you mean you will go though with this?"

"I signed it didn't I."

"YES!" Both fathers yelled and right before they could begin to make plans, Ranma hit his father over the head, hard.

"HAY! Read what it says pops!"

"I did! And we must begin to plan the wedding since you've agreed and…" He was stopped as he was hit over the head again. "What was that for?"

Ranma yanked the paper out of his fathers' hands, looked it over and then passed it back to him pointing at a specific paragraph. "…agreement to unite the two heirs will be held at the discretion of the two heirs in question and any act made by the parents of behalf two heirs without the prior knowledge or consent of said heirs will not be allowed…" Genma read then looked at his son, "What's the meaning of this!"

"Keep reading old man, kami knows you never learned to read everything before opening your mouth, but if you don't read all of this I swear I'm gonna shove this down your throat!"

Normally a threat from his son did not sway him, but this time he kept reading. However the more he read, the wider his eyes became.

"Kasumi… Oh my daughter you have made your father so happy! An heir… an heir!"

Ryoga blinked and looked at them in confusion. "Here, read it." Nabiki said in disgust. Taking the paper, the lost boy read what it said and by the time he got to their signatures, he was almost a pale white.

Dropping the paper, Ryoga looked at those around the room, though Akane kept her eyes to the floor. "Then… then… Ranma... you… and Kasumi…"

"Yea, we're engaged." The pig-tailed martial artist said causing the eldest daughter to blush.

"But Akane said that…"

"Oh shut up Ryoga!" Akane said hastily. "I told you that I wasn't engaged to him anymore!"

"But you said you wanted to make him jealous to get him back!" He replied rounding on his new wife.

"Well… I…" With all eyes on her, the youngest Tendo sighed. "Ok… I wanted the jerk back, you happy?"

"No."

Growling, Akane was ready to pound him for this when Kasumi asked a very simple question. "Akane, little sister, do you love Ranma?"

"What? What does that have to do with anything?"

"Do you love him?" She asked again and took Ranma's hand in hers.

"I… well… you see… I…" Akane struggled with her feelings. True she cared for him, but she was never sure if it was love, or something else.

"Akane. I love him." Kasumi said it, out loud, and in front of witnesses; this was the one thing that Akane had never been able to do before.

"Akane…" Ranma said softly. "I… an I l-lo… love her too…"

Akane, Nabiki, Ryoga, and the two fathers couldn't believe it. He said, it, Ranma said he loved someone… that he loved Kasumi. For Kasumi, her face was a bright red from blushing at hearing him admit it openly.

To be continued… (Yes, there is still more to go. As a teaser… I am currently planning the fight between Kasumi and Shampoo over Ranma where Kasumi drop a big surprise. Especially considering she is the eldest in a family that has a Dojo.)


	7. Fairness

Disclaimer: This is not a professionally written story, as I am only a hobbyist writer. I'm not an English whiz, and most of the time those that I have pre-reading for me cannot catch every mistake I make. Oh yeah I do not own Ranma ½ nor any of the characters. If I did, things would be a lot different. But alas, all I can do is dream and think 'what if …'

And speaking of 'What if', after reading "Evil Kasumi II" by Targhan on The Church of Ranma and Kasumi (AKA: CoRK) I got this idea and just had to see how it could possibly play out.

And now, "Fairness"

"Akane …" Ranma said softly. "I … an I l-lo … love her too …"

That line kept running though the mind of the new Akane Hibiki. 'He loves her… he loves her. Why? What about me?' Woodenly she had taken the directions from Nabiki on how to get to Ryoga's home. Although she had been there before, Akane did not trust her memory, or Ryoga's sense of direction. And as evident in the care in which the directions were written, it seemed that someone else also didn't want to take the chance of her getting lost.

However, the directions had not helped her deal with all of this. For the entire trip to her new home, she had been barely able to pay attention to the directions. Beside her, Ryoga also seemed affected. And though the two were holding hands, it was out of necessity, not anything else. If Akane could she'd drop his hand, and run back home. But that wasn't possible now. 'Everything's ruined… why'd this have to happen? Why'd we even do that! Life's so unfair!' She mentally screamed.

Beside her walked Ryoga. His head bent, and shoulders slumped. 'I've won … I've got Akane… so why do I feel so hollow?' he asked himself, and unfortunately, he was able to see why. 'Why'd we do that? Why does she still want 'him'? And why can't I blame Ranma for this!'

With each step he took, he seemed to slip further and further into depression. 'Kami … this hurts worse then when she said she hated me … I … I knew it wasn't true then … but … this still hurts.'

"Hold varlet!" A voice shouted suddenly.

"What?" Both Hibiki's asked as they looked up to see Kuno in all his self-absorbed glory.

"My wondrous personage has been told of the forced marriage of my fierce Tigress! Say this is not true!"

"Um …" Ryoga was not sure what to say in this case.

"Kuno, go away, I'm not in the mood to listen to you."

"NO! Verily this foul dog has already poisoned your mind away from me! Face me you coward, for tonight you shall breathe no more. And then the beauteous Akane Tendo will be freed of your enslavement and …"

"Kuno …" Akane warned. "Just go away. I've been through too much tonight …"

"Yea, what she said. Just go away, we're tying to find my house," Ryoga answered simply, but his answer only seemed to infuriate the insane kendoist more.

"Your … Your … your house! I will not stand for this; I will not allow you to force yourself upon the fierce and wondrous Akane Tendo …"

"Hibiki …" Ryoga supplied.

"What?" For once, Kuno asked a one-word question.

"Ryoga …" Akane warned, but Ryoga's head was down and his mind was spiraling down into a deeper depression than he's ever been in.

"Her name … is Akane Hibiki," Ryoga said softly, and sadly, even though at one time he would have been yelling it at the top of his lungs.

"NO! Then I am too late, and the vile act has been done. I will remove you from the life of my tigress before you can cheapen her by forcing yourself upon her body and …"

What ever he was going to say next was cut off as Ryoga threw both hands out and shouted out loudly, "Shi Shi Hokodan!"

Kuno was taken by surprise as in the mist of his speech, he was hit by a huge glowing green ball of energy that picked him up and carried him through several walls before depositing him unconscious on the ground in a large crater.

"Kuno! Ryoga!" Akane shouted, as she looked between the two of them, or rather where one had been standing and where the other was slumping to his knees.

Shortly before Ryoga passed out from expelling all of his depression in one shot, he was able to see Akane's concerned eyes looking at him. As the darkness began to overtake him, he told her softly, "I never wanted to hurt you … please … don't leave me …"

Her breath caught in her throat hearing that. As Ryoga slipped into unconsciousness, his new bride knew of nothing to say, or even what to do.

Cologne could not help but blink as she heard the tale from Shampoo. When her excitable great-granddaughter was through, she asked. "Then Akane is no longer his fiancée?"

"Is so! Shampoo see Kitchen-destroyer and pig-boy get married."

Rubbing her chin, she thought about this change in things and smiled. "This will make things much easier. With Akane out of the way all we have to deal with now is Ukyo and then Ranma is ours."

Dreams played out in Shampoo's mind of how she can return to her village with Ranma and have many strong warriors with him. "Oh, Shampoo no can wait till Shampoo return to village with Airen!"

"But wait you will."

"But…"

"No buts, we still have Ukyo as well as the other two Tendo girls."

"Ai-Yah! But sneaky-mercenary-girl know not to mess with Amazons, and too-too-nice-girl-Kasumi love strange-dancing-doctor."

Hearing the way Shampoo described them, Cologne only had one thing to say, "I really wish you'd use their names at times." Seeing Shampoo just blink the aged woman just sighed. "Still we must make sure that neither one tries to take him. I have had enough of this place and would much prefer to be back in our own lands. You have failed twice and there is no third failure, may I remind you."

Shampoo's happy mood suddenly vanished. "Shampoo wish you no remind."

"Kasumi I do not believe will be a problem. Ranma will not allow any harm to come to her and with a sufficient threat, he will willingly return with us to spare her."

Hearing this, Shampoo actually began to worry. "But… great-grandmother… nice-girl is really nice… Shampoo no want hurt her."

"That is of no consequence, I am not saying that we have to do anything, just the threat will be enough. Moreover, I do not believe Nabiki wishes a repeat from the last time she made herself his fiancée. So son-in-law's ties to the Tendo's will soon just be a memory."

Shampoo nodded, though her happy mood had not returned. "If Great-grand-mother say so."

"Mister part-time, get up and fix that floor!" Cologne barked and then turned to Shampoo. "Come, we have things to discuss."

Pulling himself out of the hole he was in, Mousse sighed and wondered what had happened. When he'd seen the joy on Shampoo's face as she returned from the Tendo's, he assumed it meant that she was happy that Ranma had married Akane. So, he quickly went to embrace his love. However, neither of those things happened.

Instead, when she had returned, an all too eager Mousse had assaulted her, prompting her to quickly and painfully introduce him to the basement, through the kitchen floor. Unfortunately for Mousse, the café did not have a basement.

"Oh my head…" he mumbled and tried to track down exactly where things had gone so wrong. 'After I talked to that ugly woman, I had the potion in my hands… then I saw Shampoo talking to Nabiki… though why she was wearing Ukyo's weapon I don't know… but she cut her hair too… and her chest was smaller…' Shaking his head to rid it of the thoughts over his beloveds' body as well as to make the buzzing and stars in his head to go away, Mousse tried to remember what happened after that.

'Ok, then Shampoo sent me flying… using Ukyo's spatula and the next thing I know I'm waking-up as a duck in the Tendo's pond.' As he pondered this, he reached into his robes and to his horror found something missing. 'Oh no… where is it…' Frantically he began searching through his things only to discover, much to his horror, it was gone. 'NO! That was my only chance! If I lost that then…'

Sinking into depression Mousse began fixing the hole in the floor and wishing he could remember the directions to that old woman's shop to get another one of those potions. However, he had been lost the first time he found it, and the old woman had said that he was her last customer and then she was going to close up the shop, permanently. 'Life's so unfair!'

"Life's so unfair!" Ukyo cried out as she tried to re-open her shop after having been gone for a few days. A few days that she was hoping to spend with her Ra-chan and his mother. 'Hopefully my mother, someday…' Ukyo thought with a resigned sigh. However, things did not go that way. Instead, she had spent two days on a wild goose chance and after returning, she was attacked by a rabid duck! For a moment, she chuckled at that. "More like a rabid Mousse thinking I was Shampoo… the jerk… mistaking me for Shampoo!"

Throwing some spatulas at the wall where a conveniently placed picture of her rivals was located, the chef easily cut Shampoo to ribbons. "Someday… I won't have to put up with all this and Ra-chan and I will be together, finally!" Letting her anger go, Ukyo slumped into a chair. 'Now all I have to do is figure out what to do.'

In the past, every time she'd worked with Shampoo to remove Akane, thins had gone wrong and Ranma and Akane just became closer. "I need something, something good…" a sudden thought ran though her mind and she let out a tired sigh. 'And someway to keep Ranma away while I do this.' Some time ago, she had tried to set Akane up on a date, but somehow Ranma had found out about it and had messed everything up. She suddenly smiled, "That's it! I know the perfect way to do this and make sure Ra-chan can't get mad at me!"

With a renewed vigor, Ukyo started making plans and preparations, which lasted well into the night. While this made her late for school the next day, she didn't care. Instead she used a little trick she learned from Nabiki, bargaining. By offering her teachers a few free meals, she easily got the ok to say home and "take care of a few business related problems." A bit before lunchtime, she rushed out and watched as Kasumi left the Tendo dojo to go shopping. "Perfect…"

Following and watching Kasumi carefully, Ukyo waited for the perfect opportunity. When it came, Ukyo moved fast. "Here, let me help you with that," Ukyo said as she helped Kasumi carry her shopping bags.

"Oh my, thank you Ukyo."

"Not a problem… oh by the way… can you do me a favor?"

"I can try." Kasumi said with a smile.

"Great, you see I am planning something, but Ranma can't find out about it. Can you help me out with it?"

Kasumi blinked. "Ok, but if you are planning something shouldn't you tell him?"

"Oh no, this has to be a surprise."

"It does?"

"Yes, but please, Kasumi can you promise me he won't find out about it."

The eldest Tendo daughter thought about it then nodded her head. "Yes, I think I can help."

Ukyo was getting ecstatic "Great!"

"But what should I do?"

"Promise him a special meal or something this weekend… anything… just keep him busy while I take care of some things around here. Trust me, it'll be good; and he'll be happy when he finds out. I just want to make sure it's a surprise."

Kasumi blushed at this as her mind quickly flashed some of the ways she has kept Ranma busy...very busy… as well as a special meal she prepared for him while everyone was away that first time. "Oh my…. I can do that…"

Ukyo didn't even notice Kasumi's blush. Instead, she was thinking about how right this will be. "Ok thanks!" Ukyo then ran off leaving a blushing and daydreaming Kasumi behind.

Shaking herself out of her daydream, Kasumi noticed that Ukyo had left and she again would have to carry the groceries by herself. "Oh my… I'm late…" With that, she picked up her bags and hurried home, or hurried as fast as was proper.

Back in her restaurant, Ukyo continued with her plans. "Ok, that takes care of Ranma. He'll be so busy eating whatever Kasumi made he won't know what's going on!" Happy with her progress, and her daydream, Ukyo started getting things ready for school the next day. When she had heard that Ranma and his mother were going to Tokyo to do some shopping, she had gone without hesitation, however it wasn't until she got there that she realized that she forgot to ask where in Tokyo. This had resulted in her spending four days looking for him. She came home depressed, but the four days of searching had given her time to think.

"Ryoga… he's my best shot… If I can get him just to drop that stupid vendetta he has, then things will be even better. Now where am I going to find him?" She then spent the rest of the day trying to find him, and even the next day at school, she kept an eye out for him.

However, having not seen him by noon, she decided to ask around to see if anyone had seen him, or had seen Akane's pig "P-chan."

"Sayuri, Yuka… you two have a minute?" she asked.

"Sure?" the two responded.

"Great, I know you're good friends of Akane, but have you seen Ryoga lately?"

Blinking, the two of them looked at her. "Not lately, why?"

"I need him to…" she paused and then smiled. "I need him for something, and I know he'll like it. I just have to find him."

Akane's friends were a little worried over how Ukyo had said that and tried not to tell her too much. "Oh… well… we haven't seen him today."

"Ah, ok, has Akane seen him recently?"

A little uncertainly, Yuka responded, "Well… yes… I think she said that she was with him just yesterday."

'Yesterday, that's not good it could be weeks before he returns,' she thought. "Kuso... ok thanks, I'll keep trying to find him."

Seeing her run off the two girls looked at each other in alarm. "Akane talked to you list night… right?"

"Yes," Yuka responded sadly. "She was mad because Ryoga ran off and left her alone. I couldn't leave, so we talked on the phone for hours."

Sayuri sighed, "So … it's true?"

"It is, according to Akane, she had to marry him yesterday after something went wrong, but she wouldn't tell me what… and then after dragging him to his place she went to draw a bath. When she came back… he was gone!"

"I feel sorry for her, but why isn't she in school today?"

This time Yuka sighed. "After getting married and having to move out, she cried a lot over the phone last night. I'm going to go see her today, but I'll have to take the train. I don't think she'll be coming back to school, it's just too far to walk!"

Sayuri agreed, "We'll just have to keep in touch, but I think I want to go with you too. I know Akane has said that she thought Ryoga liked Ukyo, but to hear that Ukyo needs him… I feel sorry for Akane… after being married only a day; someone is trying to take her husband."

It took Ukyo until Friday before she found Ryoga wandering the streets. This was just a little too long to suit her needs. Quickly she ran out to him before he could disappear again. "Ryoga!"

"Damn it… hay you have you seen my house?"

"What?' Ukyo blinked at that but quickly recovered. "Ryoga we have to talk."

"Huh… oh Ukyo! You have to help me!"

She hid a grin and thought this was going to be perfect. "I think we can help each other."

"You do?"

"Yes, now you see I know you have this thing for Akane."

He was caught a little off-guard by that remark. "I well you see…"

"Never mind, I have the perfect plan to get you two together!"

Blinking he asked, "You do?"

"Of course, now come here so we can discuss this."

"Um, ok." He said not knowing what he was getting himself into.

For Ukyo, she could only smile secretively and know that this was foolproof. "Ok, first all girls like to be taken out on a date, so you are going to take Akane out, I already have reservations in your name at a nice place I know of."

"You do?"

"Yes, I knew you'd agree to this so I took the liberty of making the reservations for dinner, a movie and some time between you two."

"Wow…"

Ukyo sighed, "It'll be perfect… you, and Akane… walking together, dining together…" in her daydream, she imagined Ranma taking her out, but she didn't tell Ryoga that.

"You sure this'll work?"

"Of course it will, now you will have to wear this while you go out…" so saying she handed him a collar with a steel cable attached to it.

"What the hell is this?"

"Think about it you idiot, you get lost all the time. All you have to do is tell Akane where these places are and she will lead you to them, or do you want to get lost and stand her up?"

"I… well…"

"This isn't an honor duel… if you stand up a girl, leaving them alone it will ruin any chance you have with them."

He turned pale at that. "You… you think so?"

"I know so." She told him flatly, as she recalled being left behind on the side of the road all those years ago. That hurt her a lot more than she ever wanted anyone to know about.

Uncertainly he asked, "Is, is there anyway to make it up to her?"

"By taking her out somewhere nice, and wearing this!" She pushed the collar at him causing him to become nervous. "Ugh, men… Look Ryoga, lets say that you do marry her one day, what then? Think your ability to get lost will just go away?"

"Hay I…"

"No just listen to me. Girls hate being left alone, especially when they're married. So wear the stupid collar and stay close to her. If you do that, then I know Akane will forgive you for the past as well as forgetting all about Ranma." She may have been exaggerating a little, but Ukyo wanted to make sure she had his total cooperation.

After hearing that though, Ryoga was looking at the collar with wide eyes. "She will… she'd do that?"

Nodding her head firmly she told him. "I promise you."

To Ryoga this was it, his one chance to make everything up to his new wife. "Ok, I'll wear it!"

"Good, now first, we have to get you a change of clothes and a bath! When was the last time you had a bath?"

"I… oh… well…" Ryoga began to blush a lot, as he didn't want to tell her that he hadn't had one for the past several days since he had left his pack and all his extra clothes at his home.

"Never mind, I got directions earlier this week to your place. Come on, we have to make you presentable to Akane."

"OK!"

With Ukyo leading him like a lost puppy, Ryoga happily followed her to his home to not only to get a change of clothes but he'll be with Akane again. Moreover, if Ukyo is right, then Akane will forgive him, and then maybe come to love him! However just before he could open the door to his home, the door flew open.

"Where the hell do you think you've been?" demanded an irate Akane.

Ukyo blinked, "What? Akane?"

"So you though you'd get another girl behind my back?" Akane demanded as after having been alone for several days she was on the verge of falling apart.

"NO NO NO! Nothing like that!" Ryoga quickly protested, and then he hurriedly told her about Ukyo getting reservations for the two of them at a restaurant.

"You… you are going on a date with her!"

"What? No!" Both of them demanded.

"Listen Akane, I setup the reservations, but they are for YOU and Ryoga!"

"What?" Akane asked in surprise.

"Please Akane, she just wants to help. I'm sorry I've been gone… I didn't mean to... I just got lost, and I've been trying to find my way back!"

"And why should I believe you?" Akane asked suspiciously since her friends had been telling her how hard Ukyo had been looking for Ryoga.

"Oh please, like I could come between you two, we've known all along that Ryoga's only got eyes for you Akane. He's just never been able to do anything about it." The short-haired and short-fused girl began to cool down at that.

"Please Akane… I… I'm sorry I got lost but see… Ukyo got this for us!" He quickly held up the collar and leash causing the girls eyes to widen. "She even has reservations for dinner and a movie for us… please… forgive me… I didn't mean to get lost." Ryoga was begging her to give him another chance.

Seeing this, Ukyo was a little surprised, but she continued her plan anyway. "Come on Akane, what do you say?"

"Please Akane… I know we got off to a rocky start… but I don't want to loose you. I mean I've always thought that getting married to you was going to be the happiest day of my life… but… but things went wrong."

"Yeah, Akane he… WHAT! M-m-married!"

"Ukyo told me all these things… things I never knew before… she said you'd be angry cause I got lost… please Akane… I'll wear this collar or do what ever you want… just please give me another chance."

Akane just blinked at that. It seemed strange that Ukyo would help them, but it seems that she had gone out of her way to do this. "She said that?"

"She did! Look I know I've messed up, Ukyo has told me a lot I never knew… she said that girl like to be taken out on dates and stuff, but since I get lost it'd be like I stood you up and you'd get mad."

She definitely could not argue with that.

"M-m-married…" Ukyo muttered.

"That's why she got us this collar… if you can just lead me to where we have to go, I can't get lost! See?"

Ryoga was getting desperate. He wanted to be with Akane, not have her mad at him all the time. Somehow, though his begging, Akane began to see that. Smiling softly at him she took the collar from his hands, and then placed the collar around his neck before attaching the leash. "You promise… you… you won't leave me alone anymore?"

"I never wanted to leave you in the first place!"

Tears began to fall from her eyes. All this time, she had thought she was going to loose Ryoga too, but it seems that she was wrong. Very wrong. Giving the leash a little tug, she pulled him closer and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Well then… let's not let this date go to waste, ok?"

Ryoga just smiled dumbly and let Akane lead him inside so he could change and the two of them could, he hoped, start over with this marriage.

"M-m-married…" Muttered Ukyo as the door closed.

After spending ten minutes outside of Ryoga's and now apparently Akane's house, mumbling various versions of "mm-m-m-married" to herself, a maniacal grin slowly spread across Ukyo's once dumbfounded face. After leaving the front door and frightening others with her grin along the way, she made it to her shop in record time, to further her plans. "Looks like life's not so unfair after all..."

To be continued…

Next chapter, how did Kasumi keep Ranma busy for Ukyo's plans to work? And why does Shampoo look so angry with Kasumi? What? Shampoo is challenging Kasumi to a fight?


	8. Fighting the Mist

Disclaimer: This is not a professionally written story, as I am only a hobbyist writer. I'm not an English whiz, and most of the time those that I have pre-reading for me cannot catch every mistake I make. Oh yeah I do not own Ranma ½ nor any of the characters. If I did, things would be a lot different. But alas, all I can do is dream and think 'what if …'

And speaking of 'What if', after reading "Evil Kasumi II" by Targhan on The Church of Ranma and Kasumi (AKA: CoRK) I got this idea and just had to see how it could possibly play out.

I would like to apologize to everyone that received the message saying that I had updated "Evil Kasumi Returns" when I hadn't. What happened was my latest chapter to "To the heavens" I accidentally added to "Evil Kasumi Returns." So I then had to go through and delete the incorrect chapter, but by then FFn had send out the announcement that I had updated this one. Again, I apologize; it was my mistake in putting that chapter in this one.

And now, "Fighting the Mist."

Ryoga just smiled dumbly and let Akane lead him inside so he could change and the two of them could, he hoped, start over with this marriage.

"M-m-married…" Muttered Ukyo as the door closed.

After spending ten minutes outside of Ryoga's and now apparently Akane's house, mumbling various versions of "mm-m-m-married" to herself, a maniacal grin slowly spread across Ukyo's once dumbfounded face. After leaving the front door and frightening others with her grin along the way, she made it to her shop in record time, to further her plans. "Looks like life's not so unfair after all..."

That night, Ukyo went to sleep dreaming of her future with Ranma. However, when she went to the half-day of school on Saturday she was surprised that Ranma wasn't anywhere around. While she expected Akane's absence, this was not planned. 'Where is he?' she wondered. Right after class, Ukyo rushed to talk to Nabiki, as if anyone knew where Ranma was, it'd be her. Unfortunately, she wasn't the only one looking for Nabiki.

"You there! Mercenary one! What has befallen my fierce tigress! Say that such a thing has not happened…. That some miscreant hath clamed her hand!"

"Kuno…" The chef muttered and wanted to hit him with her spatula.

"Now now Kuno-baby, you should know that my information is not free," the Tendo girl replied with a smile on her face causing the students around to groan.

'I don't care what it costs…' the kendoist said to himself, 'I must find out the truth. Akane Tendo cannot be married to that ruffian! And when I find out the truth I shall make him pay!' Quickly Kuno pulled out 5,000 yen and handed it to her. "Verily speak now!"

"Mmmm. Are you calling me a dog, commanding me to speak? The price just went up by 10,000."

The delusional teen grabbed at his chest as though he had been wounded. "Ten thousand! Woman this…"

"This is prime information concerning the fierce tigress and as stupid as you are, once you're told, you'll shout it to the school. So, you will pay everyone's cut to cover my lost expenses."

"I detest you woman," Kuno said to her flatly, but he had to know the truth.

"You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that." She replied just the same.

"Sasuke!"

"Yes master!" The small ninja said as he appeared next to his master.

"Pay this mercenary what she wishes. I must know what has befallen the beauteous Akane Tendo!"

Nodding rapidly the ninja asked, "How much is this information?"

"Price does not matter!" Added Kuno causing Nabiki to smile in such a way it made even Ukyo worry about his bank account.

"Let's see, the information is 10,000 yen, then there is the fee for insulting me of 10,000 and…"

"20,000!" He yelled, and for a brief moment, he entertained the thought of trying to find this out on his own, but he needed to know, and he needed to know now.

"Oh, you're right, I normally charge everyone around 5,000 for this, so lets see, there are 20 students around so that would make it 100,000 plus the 20, bringing it to a total of 120,000 yen." Nabiki just smiled at Kuno as he worked this through his mind.

With much blustering and shouting, Kuno finally paid Nabiki the required amount, which pleased those around, as he was also paying for them, and not asking them to pay as well. "There woman, you have your money, now, what has happened to my fierce tigress?"

Nabiki counted her yen, then after pocketing it, she simply smiled and said, "For almost a week, my dear sister Akane has been living under her new name of Akane Hibiki with her new husband." Kuno's eyes opened wide at this, as did those of everyone around them. Ukyo was one like this as well, as she could not believe that Akane had been married for almost a week. Just when Kuno was about to start speaking in protest, Nabiki added, "I was there when the paperwork was signed, stamped and made official. In addition, she has spent the past week at her husband's home. She will be starting a new school on Monday since it is too far from here."

The boys in the school could not believe it; Akane was gone, and married. It was official. Though of those around, Kuno seemed to be taking it the hardest, as he was doing a very good impression of a statue the way he was just standing there.

"So it was true…" Ukyo muttered then let out a sigh before smiling. 'With Akane out of the way, then all I have to worry about is Shampoo and Ranma is as good as mine!' Seeing the stunned expression of the boys around her, she decided to add to their misery. "I was at their home last night…"

"What? You were?" Asked a number of boys excitedly, hoping for a bit of juicy information.

"Yes, and I decided to help out Akane a little by getting Ryoga a collar with a steel leash. The poor boy put the thing on and handed her the leash! You should've seen it!" She began chuckling at that. "They've got it bad, and the last I saw of them, Akane was leading him back into the house!"

"WHAT? NO!" Several boys shouted as their hopes were forever dashed, though now they had a lot of material for their fantasies.

Nabiki gave her a slight nod, "I see, so that's what you were up to."

"I didn't know they were married, so I was hoping to get them together." The chef told her plainly and could not help but smile. "It looks like it went better than I planned."

"Thank you."

"What?" She couldn't help it; she blinked and looked at Nabiki questionably.

"Akane was worried that you were looking to take Ryoga away from her, I'm glad that she was wrong."

"Oh, ok… um… Nabiki have you seen Ranma around? I didn't see him in class today."

"Is this about your special surprise?"

"What? How'd you? Oh, Kasumi told you."

"She did, and since you were adamant that Ranma not be around for this surprise, we decided the best idea was for her to take him out of town for the weekend."

"WHAT?"

"Ouch…" Nabiki mumbled as she rubbed her ears. "Well you did ask Kasumi to keep Ranma busy and from interfering in your plans. And if he's not here, then he won't be able to interfere."

"NO! But… but that means that Ranma will be gone the whole weekend!"

"Isn't that what you wanted?"

"NO! I… I have to find them!" With that, the chef made a decision that she would come to regret. She ran away from the school grounds quickly in hopes of running across Ranma and Kasumi, all the while leaving behind the very one that could tell her where the two were.

Watching Ukyo run off, Nabiki wondered if she should have told her more, but her train of thought was interrupted. "Nabiki?" A girl called from behind her.

"Yes," she said as she turned around. "Oh hi Sayuri," Nabiki added when she realized it was one of Akane's friends.

"Hi… um… did Ranma and Kasumi run away together?"

This caused the middle Tendo daughter to laugh and think, 'if you only knew.' However, she was not about to tell them the truth about her sister being Ranma's new fiancée. "Not a chance. Kasumi was asked to keep Ranma busy this weekend, so they are only going to be away for a couple of days at the most."

"Oh… I see… um… not that I mind or anything… but why aren't you charging me for this?"

Nabiki let out a sigh and mentally cursed herself for not reading Kasumi's contract completely before signing it. "If it had been Akane and Ranma or someone else and Ranma, trust me I would. But I'm not about to have people talking bad about Kasumi."

Sayuri smiled at that, "Ok, well I have to go. Take care!" With that said Nabiki watched as Akane's long time friend ran off.

With the rest of the students leaving the campus, Nabiki decided to leave as well. Smirking, she walked past the Kuno statue and out of the schoolyard. Behind her, she could still hear Sasuke calling out to his master, trying to get some sort of reaction. 'I should've taken bets on how long it's going to take Kuno-baby to start moving again.'

As it was, she was almost home before she heard a male bellow, "I WILL NOT ALLOW THIS!"

Many, many miles away, a shiver ran down Ryoga's spine. "What was that?"

"What was what?" Akane asked as the two of them enjoyed the hot springs that Ukyo had sent them to.

"Nothin' much, just…felt a chill I guess." He said and closed his eyes. He'd never known that a place like this could exist, and while he was nervous that Akane was here, and just a short distance from him, thankfully the water was warm enough that his curse hadn't triggered.

Akane nodded her head and Sat back in the spring and sighed. 'This… this isn't so bad,' she thought as she relaxed. It was hard for her to believe, but just a few days ago she had been ready to kill Ryoga when this had first happened, and then we he disappeared she felt alone, and abandoned. When Ukyo had brought Ryoga back to her, and he offered her the leash… she had felt something then, something akin to exhilaration and possibly a little happiness. Right then and there, she made a promise to herself, 'I'm not going to give up, I'm not going to be alone, and I'm not going to let go of this leash…' As she thought the last part, she blushed and fingered the leash once again that was still connected to Ryoga's collar.

For his part, Ryoga blushed as well when he felt the slight tug on his collar. He never thought that Akane could be so possessive. However, he would not have it any other way. That still did not alleviate the embarrassment he feels at times. 'Though I guess I deserved it…' passed though his mind as he recalled how she would use the collar to not only lead him around, but the few times he was about to get into a fight, she had used the leash to keep him in line. Casting a glance at her he could not help but smile and blush in her direction before closing his eyes and enjoying their time together.

"Ah, seems like Kuno snapped out of it," Nabiki said with a grin as she stepped into her home. While Nabiki might not have been the only one to hear Kuno's scream of outrage, she was however, the only one that actually paid it any attention, outside of Sasuke.

After leaving Furinkan High School, Ukyo ran as fast as she could before stopping suddenly and cursing, loudly.

"Ai-yah! Spatula girl know words Shampoo not hear before."

Said spatula-girl growled at the nickname, but she didn't have time for this. "I don't have time for this, I have to find Ranma-honey and…"

"Why look for Airen?"

"Because…" she replied tiredly. "I was going to get Akane and Ryoga together and so…"

"But Kitchen-destroyer and pig-boy already married."

That took her by surprise, "How'd you know? I just found out today?"

"Shampoo there, see wedding."

"What? You mean you… you…"

"Shampoo see wedding. Mousse tell Shampoo bad lie that Airen and kitchen-destroyer get married. So Shampoo go see for self."

"And you got there in time to see…"

"Shampoo see wedding… was very confused, but glad." Shampoo let out a sigh after that, but she didn't want to look too relieved as she still had to find a way to get Ukyo out of the way and then Ranma would be hers.

Ukyo had sustained several shocks to her system in the past 24 hours and she was beginning to hit her limit. "I… I see…"

"Is so. Bye now, Shampoo go see Airen!" The bubbly Amazon said and was about to leave when Ukyo suddenly snapped back to reality.

"SHAMPOO! Wait!"

"Ai-yah! Spatula-girl no need yell. Shampoo right here."

"Oh… sorry, um… do you know where Ranma-honey is?"

This caused her to blink. "What mean? Airen not with stupid-panda?"

"I just talked to Nabiki, and Ranma left town last night." Shampoo's eyes widened at this. "No one told me Akane married Ryoga, so I was trying to get them together and…"

"But they already married."

"I KNOW THAT! I mean I know that now… but when I talked to Kasumi I didn't…" Seeing Shampoo just looking at her in confusion, Ukyo sighed and told her how she had talked to Kasumi, and how she asked her to keep Ranma busy so she could get Akane and Ryoga together. This led her to the last part, "So when Ranma-honey wasn't in school, I asked Nabiki and apparently they thought the best way to prevent Ranma from getting in the way and ruining my plans… Ranma left yesterday after school."

"Airen leave? Where he go?"

"I don't know! I was just going to ask Kasumi where he went… when I realized Nabiki said that they left together!"

Shampoo's eyes opened wide at this. "What?"

"Yesterday… after school… Ranma and Kasumi left town together…"

"Ai-Yah! Shampoo must find them! Must tell great-grandmother too!"

"Ok, but if you find them, tell me right away!"

Nodding, Shampoo told her, "If Spatula-girl find Airen, you tell Shampoo no?"

"No... I mean yes… I mean… just go!"

With a curt nod, the Amazon rushed back to the cat-café as Ukyo went back to her own restaurant to plan how to find Ranma.

That night, the Tendo residence had not one, but two watchers that were peeking in the windows and trying to find out any information that they could. Two distinct conversations held their attentions.

"Tendo old friend, let's drink a toast!" Said an overweight and bald martial artist who had seemingly had too much to drink.

"Quite right Saotome my friend!" Was seconded by his obviously almost falling-down-drunk friend.

"Ah, this is the life; our children have run off together!"

"And they are sure to be working on joining our families!"

"Which means No-chan will no longer want me to commit seppuku!"

"And Ranma can take over the dojo!"

"And I can live a life of ease with the boy doing all the work!"

Obviously the two were not even really paying attention to what the other was saying as they continued to drink and enjoy themselves. However, to a certain watcher who carried around a rather large spatula, this was the worst news she'd ever heard. 'No… it… it can't be…' she told herself, but her mind quickly reminded her that just because Akane was out of the way, didn't mean that one of her sisters wouldn't take her place. 'And Kasumi… and Ran-chan… they… they…' Quickly she ran away from the residence in tears.

While the second watcher missed hearing the drunken father talking, she instead got the information she wanted as she listened in on a phone conversation.

"Ok sis, so sounds like you two had fun, but when are you coming back?" Nabiki said as she held the phone to her head. "Tomorrow huh? Well, how'd things go?" the girl asked with a sly grin. "Well that's good, so where are you?" This was the part that the watcher wanted to know. "Where?" Nabiki asked. "No… I've never heard of it." There was a slight pause and then the girl perked up, "Free? A free hot spring?"

For several moments, she was silent when she suddenly laughed. "I bet Ranma was a bit worried at first, but that would explain why it was free… so did he pass out seeing you like that?"

The watchers eyes opened wide and she had to wonder what was meant by 'like that.'

Sighing Nabiki lay back on her bed. "I see, well you'll make it back by tomorrow, right?" She paused then sighed. "Ok, but just be careful. Daddy thinks you two ran off to get married and his father is stupid enough to think you're already working on an heir."

'This is not good…' though the watcher as she quickly ran away from the Tendo home.

Nabiki smirked as she noticed the shadow move away from her window. "By the way, why there? Isn't Kokanesaki Furofushi kind of far away?" She paused as he heard the answer and then smiled, "I see, so you've wanted to go there for some time, but we're talking about two, three trains, as well as at least two busses just to get you there… what about a place to sleep, or food?" Sighing, Nabiki could only nod her head. "Ok, so Ranma has a tent for the two of you and you've always wanted to go camping… it's just not my thing…" Hearing her sister giggle over the phone, Nabiki let out another heavy sigh before telling her sister one final thing, "Ok sis, see you tomorrow, though I think you may want to be gone a bit longer."

Despite not only being warned and having their own reservations about returning, Ranma and Kasumi knew they had to return to Nerima. For the two of them, they had spent Friday night, as well as all day Saturday and so far most of Sunday together, yet here they were, walking back from the train station. Not a word was said between them, instead they just enjoyed the last bits of peace and quiet they'd have before the chaos of his life caught up with them again.

From where she was walking beside Ranma, with her hand clasped in his, Kasumi felt extremely happy and ready to weather any storm. However, little did the elder Tendo daughter realize just how soon that storm would hit.

Since finding out yesterday that Ranma and Kasumi were both missing, Shampoo had been scouring the area in a desperate search for them. Already she was feeling the strain, though it was not all physical. In reality, her mind was playing out all sorts of scenarios where Ranma and Kasumi never returned, or where they did return, but only after Kasumi had given birth to their first child. Both of these were inexcusable to her and she refused to give up on her airen. It was with great delight that she found her quarry. Rushing towards her Airen she noticed that Kasumi was holding his hand and walking too close for her liking.

Landing in front of them with her bon-bori drawn the Amazon scowled at her quarry through tired eyes.

"Oh my…" Kasumi said as soon as Shampoo landed in front of them.

"Guess this is it…" the pigtailed boy said and was about to move into a defensive position, but Kasumi did not let go of his hand.

"You… You no want become obstacle," the warrior said to Kasumi. "Let Shampoo take Airen back to village and nice-nice-girl go home."

"Oh dear."

"No, Shampoo I ain't goin' back with you an'…" he paused as Kasumi placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Shampoo, is there anyway I can convince you to stop this?"

"No! Ranma is Shampoo Airen. We go back to China. No make me ki… hurt you." Of all the people Shampoo had thought she would have to fight, she never thought it would be Kasumi. She was the only one that never insulted her or made fun of her.

Sighing, Kasumi let go of Ranma's hand and stepped forward. "I see, I am sorry it has come to this." Taking a big breath, she said something that stunned both Ranma and Shampoo. "Shampoo, I challenge you for Ranma. I would like you to meet me at the Tendo Dojo tomorrow morning at nine."

"WHAT? But… but Shampoo no want to…"

"Then are you giving up?"

"NO! Shampoo can no give up!"

"I thought so. Why don't we walk you home, you seem very tired? Have you had enough sleep lately?"

"Um… Shampoo up all night try find Airen…" it wasn't much of a surprise that Kasumi had completely confused her, as Ranma was confused as well.

"Ok, then make sure you have plenty of rest tonight. Ok?"

Confusedly Shampoo replied, "Oh, ok…"

"Good, now then, shall we get you home and rested?" And with that, Kasumi led the two confused teens to the Neko-haten before leaving behind a tired, and confused Shampoo.

"Kasumi…"

"Yes Ranma?" Kasumi asked with a smile.

"Um… are you sure you want to do that? I mean she's really good and…"

"Ranma, are you worried?"

"Yes! I mean… well… I never saw you ever fight, and well… you just challenged Shampoo!"

"But Ranma, daddy has a dojo doesn't he?"

"Well… yeah?"

"Don't worry, I have thought that this would happen even before I made those little horns," she told him with a giggle and continued to walk towards her long-time home.

Watching her walk away, Ranma shook his head and sighed. 'She'll be fine... I hope… kami don't let her get hurt," he begged silently. Catching up to her, he let out a sigh before speaking. "Kasumi… I just don't wanna see ya get hurt. You…"

"Yes?" She asked and smiled at him.

His knees felt weak at that smile. In the past few days he's seen more of that smile than he ever thought possible. However, each time he's seen it, has been under vastly different circumstances. 'There was the time on the train as she just smiled at me… she said she was just happy to get to spend time alone with me… and then when we camped that night, she smiled at me that way just before we… we… um…' Ranma's face turned red as he recalled how she had proposed they share a sleeping bag to share body heat. 'Um, yeah… and then when we got to that hot spring… man that was something else...' as he thought of the place she took him to he was very surprised, as the bathing areas were not separated and she had just approached him as he had been in the spring… wearing nothing but that smile.

"Kami I've got it bad…" he mumbled as he watched her walk with a bright smile on her face. Though just seeing her smile like that brought a smile to his own face.

"Oh and Ranma?"

"Yes?" he asked with his own smile in place.

"I do not want you to tell our fathers about the challenge, and please do not tell my sisters either."

"Why not?"

"I do not want anymore people that absolutely necessary to know about this."

He shrugged his shoulders, but then agreed. "Um… ok…"

"Good," she responded as she nodded. "I should think that Father and uncle Saotome are rather hungry, so I have a special dinner in mind for them."

"Sure…" he said as she milled at him, and he knew that she had something special in mind… especially with that grin on her lips. As he stared at her lips he could not help but think of how warm and inviting they were, and how often this weekend he'd been able to taste them. 'Pop's always told me to stay away from sake and other things cause I'd get addicted or whatever to them…' that caused Ranma to grin even more. 'But pops never said that I couldn't get addicted ta just kissin' a girl… but… if this is a addiction… I don't wanna quit!' Smiling at her happily, Ranma gave Kasumi a quick kiss on the lips before the two of them re-entered the Tendo home.

The next morning, Ranma awoke with that same stupid grin on his face, as well as long brown hair sprawled out over his chest. As he promised Kasumi before they arrived, he had not told anyone about the fight this morning, and before he went to bed, Kasumi had invited him into her room, to give him a reward for keeping his word. At first, he'd thought it was just going to be another kiss, but she had proved him wrong, very wrong. Though while he had his reservations, since their fathers were home, Kasumi quickly put them to rest by telling him of the special ingredients in their fathers' food that would ensure they slept till noon.

"But what about Nabiki?" he had asked as she removed his shirt.

"She's started using earplugs to help her sleep since you and uncle keep waking her up too early, so she will not hear a thing." Even though she smiled at him cutely; the way she threw his shirt across the room had his mind racing. It wasn't hard for Kasumi to convince him to see things her way, and the two enjoyed the night in each other's arms.

"I could get used to this…" he mumbled softly as his arms caressed her bare back.

"So could I…" she replied as she sat up and yawned.

Seeing her body revealed to him like this, Ranma was at a loss for words. Even though they had been together, and sans clothing many times, each time was special to him, and to her.

Expertly, Kasumi gathered her things, and began her morning as though nothing was different, or unusual; though Ranma just watched her from his spot in her bed. "I've got to get breakfast ready for Nabiki, so go ahead and get cleaned up."

"Ok… an Kasumi…"

"Yes Ranma?" She asked as she slipped the apron over her modest dress.

"I… I love you… Okay?" Even though he's said it before, it still made him stutter.

"I know Ranma, and I love you too. Don't worry, after today things should start looking better."

That suddenly made him remember the upcoming fight with Shampoo and he could not help but worry. "Ok… if you say so."

"I do, now go take your bath…" she told her love and gave him a chaste kiss before leaving her room.

"I think… I need a cold bath…" he said softly before quickly getting his things together for the day.

With breakfast over, the fathers asleep and Nabiki unaware and at school, the eldest Tendo Daughter found herself in a very unusual position. For the first time in a long time, Kasumi, the Tendo homemaker wore a gi instead of her normal dress and apron. But not only was she wearing something different, but for the second time in her life, Kasumi stood across from Shampoo, yet this time in the center of the Tendo dojo. To her side was Ranma, though across from him was Cologne. Taking a deep breath, she bowed to the two Amazons. "Thank you for coming to this challenge."

Cologne smiled at her. "I am most surprised child; I would have thought Akane or one of the others would challenge my great granddaughter."

"There are reasons for this, I assure you. But before I go into those, I would like to state the rules and conditions," Kasumi told them with only a slight bow this time.

The aged matriarch could not help but smile. "Accepted, go ahead with them."

"Thank you honored elder," Kasumi began then looked towards Shampoo again. "I would like to set this up as a two part challenge. The second part is where we will meet in actual combat. However…"

"However?" Cologne asked.

"However our home and dojo have suffered much lately, so if you do not mind I would like to restrict the fighting."

"How so?" Shampoo asked getting impatient.

"To reduce the damage done to the dojo or home itself, I ask that no chi or ki attacks are used, moreover I propose that weapons and pressure-points be restricted as well." She paused for a moment and added, "If we are to meet in combat, I would like this to be a skill against skill. Using pressure points against the other or the use of weapons may give too great an advantage leaving behind a cheated feeling."

"Sound like rules for fight during tournament," the younger Amazon told her then nodded her head. "Sound good, Shampoo no use weapon or special attacks."

"Thank you," Kasumi told her sincerely.

"Child, what is the first part of the fight?" Cologne asked.

"Before that, honored elder, I ask for one rule to be acknowledged."

"And that is?"

"Once we begin, then there can be no outside interference. If Ranma interferes on my behalf, then I forfeit, and..."

"And any interference on my behalf, and my great-granddaughter forfeits," Cologne interrupted.

"Yes elder, it only seems fair as this challenge is between Shampoo and myself."

Cologne nodded then moved to the side to be out of the way. "I see, well then Ranma, let's wait over here."

"Kasumi…" Ranma started to say, but was interrupted by her hand being placed on his lips.

"Please, Ranma. I know you object, but this needs to be done." As she spoke, she moved her hand from covering his mouth to caressing his jaw.

"I… ah… ok…" he said with a blush on his cheeks.

"Thank you." With that, she placed her hand on the back of his neck and motioned him towards Cologne. After he reluctantly moved to the side with Cologne, her attention turned fully to Shampoo. "Now…" she said softly, "the first part of this challenge may prove the hardest."

"Shampoo not scared."

"Scared? Oh there's nothing to be scared about."

This confused the young Amazon. "What is challenge then?"

"Understanding."

"Understanding?"

"Yes, you see, the first part of the challenge is to understand why we fight. Do we fight blindly or do we know the reasons and consequences of fighting?"

"But… Shampoo fight for airen… Nice-girl… Kasumi challenge Shampoo to fight for Airen, what to understand?"

Kasumi just smiled at her. "That is what I am talking about; I want you to understand what this fight really means. Do you take this challenge?"

"Shampoo take challenge! Make Nice… Shampoo mean make Kasumi understand."

"Very well. I would like to hear from you, why do you fight for Ranma, is it for love, or for your laws, and how much do you love Ranma?"

"What Kasumi mean? Shampoo love Airen, want be with Airen and return to village."

"Oh dear, this may take a while," Kasumi said softly. "Let's see… Oh I know. Shampoo, do you love Ranma enough to let him go?" Shampoo blinked at her as though the girl had suddenly grown several extra heads. "What I mean is this," she tried again. "I love Ranma. But what I want most is his happiness. And if that happiness is with another, then I will let him go to pursue that happiness."

Cologne happened to look at Ranma as Kasumi made that admission, yet instead of his normal flustered hand waving and denials, instead he had a slight smile and a blush adorning his face. 'Interesting,' she mused to herself.

Unfortunately, it did not seem that Shampoo understood, "Kasumi mean it, she let Ranma go?"

With a sigh, Kasumi added, "If I thought that he'd be happier with someone else."

"Then we no have fight? Kasumi let Ranma go and Shampoo take Ranma back to village and…"

"I'm sorry but no."

"Why?" Shampoo asked in confusion.

Kasumi looked at the Amazon and tried asking it in a different way, "Shampoo, what would you do if Ranma did not love you?"

Recoiling back as if slapped, the girl's eyes were opened wide. "What!"

"If you found out that Ranma did love another, could you love him enough to let him go?"

"But Airen and Shampoo… we… By Amazon law, we married! Ranma have love Shampoo!"

"Oh my. I see. So if Ranma did not love you, then it would not matter… would you not care?"

Shampoo's head was beginning to hurt from this. "What Kasumi mean?"

"Well, by Amazon law you are married, but what if he did not love you? What would you do then?"

"But it no matter…" Shampoo was going to say more but Kasumi held up her hand to quiet the girl.

"I am not talking about your laws, I mean your heart."

"Shampoo's heart…"

"Yes, would you prefer to have your husband greet you with open arms, and hold you because he loves you…" Kasumi paused as she saw the far away look on Shampoo's face. She almost hated to say the next part. "Or would you like him to hold you because he has to."

"I…" Shampoo looked to her great-grandmother then back to Kasumi, before shifting her eyes to Ranma. She could easily imagine him holding her tight, telling her how much he loves her, and taking her on a date. Yet, the only times he's done so, was because he was trying to get something out of her, not because he wanted to. It was at this moment that the girl's heart started to hurt worse than her head.

"Please Shampoo; I do not intent to harm you in any way. I just want you to understand. I love him. I do not want to let him go, but if he wants to leave, then I cannot hold him. I want him to hold me, because he wants to. Not because he has to."

"But… Shampoo… I…" She started to say but her mind was in turmoil and her heart was aching. 'Why? Why hasn't he ever taken me out on a date? Why hasn't he ever held me? Why? Why ancestors why?'

"Shampoo…" The girl looked up at Kasumi as she spoke softly. "I am here to fight on Ranma's behalf. If you defeat me, then you may take Ranma to your village, but I want you to know something before we start the second part of our challenge."

Shampoo could barely get the words out as she tried to piece things together. "What's that?"

"I wish this was being said under a better circumstance..." Kasumi said softly. Though as she spoke, Cologne looked up to Ranma and was surprised to see that his eyes were opened wide, and he was sweating heavily. "Shampoo, Ranma proposed to me yesterday while we were away."

"WHAT?"

"He was not able to afford a ring, but Ranma has promised me that after he graduates from school, we can get married."

"But… Airen… Ranma… he…" Shampoo's mind had almost shorted out completely, and then it suddenly donned her on what was going on. If she were to win this fight, then she would be forcefully taking Ranma away from the one he did love. 'And then…' she thought bitterly. 'And then… he will hold me… but he won't love me...'

"Shampoo, I believe I have taken enough of your time, perhaps we should start the second half of this challenge." Kasumi said seriously, as she looked at her opponent.

"But…"

"But before we begin this next part, can you show me how to make a fist?"

"WHAT?"

"I was never interested in learning the art of fighting. Instead I preferred to learn from my mother… so…" Kasumi then held up her hand much like a child taking their first lesson. "Is this how I hold my hand?"

Shampoo blinked as she looked at Kasumi. 'It's not possible… is it? No… she must be mocking me… she…. She's taunting me! There is no way that she could not know this!' inside her mind, a raging storm was building. The young Amazon could not believe the gall of this… this… outsider! This outsider dared to take away her airen, say that he loves her and then mock her this way! 'Inexcusable!' her mind screamed. "Nice-girl should know not make fun Amazons!"

So saying, Shampoo launched herself forward and performed a wheel kick towards this outsider's outstretched arm. Years of training kicked in and she prepared herself for a long, drawn out fight. However as soon as her foot connected with Kasumi's arm to test the defenses of this outsider, she was ill prepared when there was no defense. Instead, the sickening snap of bones was heard throughout the dojo as Kasumi was knocked away from Shampoo.

"Ouch…"Kasumi said softly as she stood up from where she had landed. When she turned to face Shampoo again, everyone could see that her upper arm was broken.

"What?" Shampoo asked as she heard a whimpering sound behind her. Taking her eyes off Kasumi she looked back at Ranma and her heart ached even more as she saw him barely holding himself back from rushing towards Kasumi's aid. The tears in his eyes that were locked on Kasumi's form left no doubt in her mind who had his attention. "No…" She said stubbornly.

Kasumi gingerly used her good arm to place her right hand in the front of her gi, making it into a makeshift sling. "I'm sorry; I'll try better next time," she said and brought her left arm up as though she were going to try to use it for fighting.

Tears began making their way down Shampoo's cheeks. 'There's no way… there's no way she's this weak…' she thought then launching herself forwards, she was not even looking at where she was hitting… yet her feet and hands told her that she was making solid impacts each time. More tears began falling as she realized, there was no resistance, no defense, as Kasumi knew nothing about fighting. Sweeping the girl off her feet, Shampoo hoped that this time Kasumi would stay down. Yet when a battered, bruised and bloodied Kasumi tried to stand, Shampoo tackled her to the ground.

"NO! Stay down! No get up!" Pinning Kasumi to the ground, she could feel the broken bones of the girl's arm pressing into her leg, which only made it that much clearer to her. This outsider was not going to give up… 'I'm going to have to… to have to…' as she thought this her hand gripped Kasumi's neck.

"Squeeze harder…" Kasumi's soft voice said.

"What?" Shampoo asked in a small voice.

"I cannot live without him… I cannot fight you… end it now and take him with you." Kasumi said softly so that only Shampoo's ears could hear it.

Trembling, the Amazon lifted her other hand to land the finishing blow.

Cologne watched in amazement. Not over the fact, that the fight was good. In fact to her eyes, this was a waste and there was no honor in it, yet the Tendo girl showed an amazing ability to take the beating from Shampoo and still keep going. However, from beside her she could hear Ranma's whimpers of torment and she held no illusions that Ranma didn't care for the girl. In fact, she could tell that Ranma himself was in pain over watching her get abused this way. 'This isn't good… If Shampoo wins then she still loses his heart. He will never hold her with any love after watching this.'

With a long sigh she lifted her head and was about to stop her granddaughter, when Shampoo's hand suddenly shot down towards Kasumi. 'By the ancestors no!'

To be Continued…

Oh and if you want to know more about where Kasumi and Ranma went, do a search for Kokanesaki Furofushi and follow the link for go Japan.


	9. Misty Eyes and Wild Hearts

Disclaimer: This is not a professionally written story, as I am only a hobbyist writer. I'm not an English whiz, and most of the time those that I have pre-reading for me cannot catch every mistake I make. Oh yeah I do not own Ranma ½ nor any of the characters. If I did, things would be a lot different. But alas, all I can do is dream and think 'what if …'

And speaking of 'What if', after reading "Evil Kasumi II" by Targhan on The Church of Ranma and Kasumi (AKA: CoRK) I got this idea and just had to see how it could possibly play out.

This I believe is a record for me. But I received so many messages about the previous chapter, I decided to work on this one. So, um... sorry to everyone that was waiting for more on Ranma and the Outers, or Primal Ranma. But never-fear! Underd… um... never mind.

And now, "Misty Eyes and Wild Hearts."

Ever since finding out that his fierce tigress had become married and had moved away, Tatewaki Kuno had spent every moment since searching for her; or rather every moment after coming out of his catatonic state.

"Master Kuno, perhaps we should stop and…"

"Nay Sasuke! We shall endeavor to find the beauteous Akane Tendo without ceasing! Verily even if it takes till the end of time or to the far reaches of the world, I Tatewaki Kuno, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan shall find my Fierce Tigress!"

Sasuke sighed, and trudged along behind his master. He didn't understand why they didn't ask anyone where the Hibiki home was; and he had no clue as to what they were going to do once they got there. But then again he'd never known his master to think things through completely.

Coming to a hill overlooking a small town, Kuno declared pompously, "Verily I shall find Akane Tendo and return her to my side! This ruffian that thinks he can claim this tigress will be brought low!"

Thunder rolled in the distance and an ominous bolt of lightning struck, but the delusional kendoist ignored it and continued on his way.

"Why me?" Sasuke asked and followed behind his master.

"A-CHOO!"

"Wow Ryoga, that's the fifth time this morning, are you sure you're not sick?" Akane asked as she walked beside her husband with his leash still clutched tightly in her hands.

"Ah yeah, I'm fine… I… well…" Ryoga gulped nervously. Today was going to be his first day back in school for a long time, and for his triumphant return, Akane was leading him to the school with the leash held firmly in her hand. Yet even though the way the other students were looking at them made him feel uncomfortable. That wasn't the worst part. 'My pots… my supplies…' the boy lamented mentally. 'They're gone… melted into nothingness…' he wanted to cry at the injustice, but couldn't, as it was his wife, his precious Akane who had tried to cook breakfast for him. Unfortunately, the cookware didn't hold up to the extreme heat she tried to cook at and both the cookware and the food were a lost cause.

Sadly, Ryoga's day had not fared much better the further along it went. In front of the whole class, Akane had introduced the both of them… still holding his leash. This little thing caused many of the boys, and several of the girls to start whispering and suddenly by lunchtime there were theories flying wildly about the Hibiki's private lives. However, every time Ryoga had tried to do something to stop it, Akane would jerk on the leash and not only stop him from doing anything, but that in itself caused the rumors to fly even faster.

Hanging his head he tried not to cry as the girl he loved vowed to make up for this mornings breakfast fiasco and make him a proper dinner. 'There is no justice in this world…' he thought sadly.

"Oh…. My head…" groaned a girl as she woke up slowly and tried to stop the hammers in her head from exploding out of her head. "What happened…" she groaned and tried to sit up, though the arm draped across her prevented her movement. "Damn it… move…" she grumbled and went to move the arm, then froze. "What the hell…" she thought, and followed the arm to look at the body beside her.

"Mmfph… five mmoree mminuth…" came from under the mane of long dark hair attached to the body.

"Kami what happened…" she asked as terror began to mount in her. Glancing around the room she saw her spatulas, clothes, his clothes her chest binding… all lying in haphazard piles. "Please… kami no…" she mumbled. But the more she looked around the worse she felt. It felt unreal, almost as if she was watching this from outside her own body. Beside her nude form, was the nude body of Mousse. 'How? Why?' she asked and as she started to lose control of herself. When she noticed the sake bottles littering the floor, she felt a wave of nausea pass over her. 'Oh… But…' frantically she tried to piece together what happened, even though it was causing pain to lace through her brain.

It seems all too easy for Ukyo to remember what had happened to rip her heart in two.

"Tendo old friend, let's drink a toast!" an overweight and bald martial artist who's had too much to drink had said.

"Quite right Saotome my friend!" Was seconded by his falling-down-drunk friend.

"Ah, this is the life; our children have run off together!"

"And they are sure to be working on joining our families!"

Clutching her ears, Ukyo had wanted to scream then, and now. Instead of screaming as she wanted to last night, she had run away with a broken heart. 'And then I ran into… him…' she mumbled darkly as she looked at the nude Mousse who was still lying face down beside her.

"Out of my way!" She screamed though the tears as she ran headlong into Mousse as she had ran blindly away from the Tendo home.

'Kuso… what happened after that?' she muttered and tried to piece things together. 'Ok… I know I was cr-crying… and he came in with me. And… and then I started drinking…' Sighing, Ukyo leaned over and sniffed him before pulling back in distaste. "Sake… of all the stupid… we were drunk..."

Finally understanding how she and Mousse had become drunk and apparently had spent the night together, it was enough to send her into another crying fit. 'There is no justice!' she thought bitterly.

Tears began making their way down Shampoo's cheeks. 'There's no way… there's no way she's this weak…' she thought then launched herself forwards, she was not even looking at where she was hitting… yet her feet and hands told her that she was making solid impacts each time. More tears began falling as she realized, there was no resistance, no defense, as Kasumi knew nothing about fighting. Sweeping the girl off her feet, Shampoo hoped that this time Kasumi would stay down. Yet when a battered, bruised and bloodied Kasumi tried to stand, Shampoo tackled her to the ground.

"NO! Stay down! No get up!" Pinning Kasumi to the ground, she could feel the broken bones of the girl's arm pressing into her leg, which only made it that much clearer to her. This outsider was not going to give up… 'I'm going to have to… to have to…' as she thought this her hand gripped Kasumi's neck.

"Squeeze harder…" Kasumi's soft voice said.

"What?" Shampoo asked in a small voice.

"I cannot live without him… I cannot fight you… end it now and take him with you." Kasumi said softly so that only Shampoo's ears could hear it.

Trembling, the Amazon lifted her other hand to land the finishing blow.

Cologne watched in amazement. Not over the fact, that the fight was good. In fact to her eyes, this was a waste and there was no honor in it, yet the Tendo girl showed an amazing ability to take the beating from Shampoo and still keep going. However, from beside her she could hear Ranma's whimpers of torment and she held no illusions that Ranma didn't care for the girl. In fact, she could tell that Ranma himself was in pain over watching her get abused this way. 'This isn't good… If Shampoo wins then she still loses his heart. He will never hold her with any love after watching this.'

With a long sigh she lifted her head and was about to stop her granddaughter, when Shampoo's hand suddenly shot down towards Kasumi. 'By the ancestors no!'

Tears were pouring down Ranma's eyes as he watched, and when he saw the final strike about to land, he tried to cry out and stop this, just as he had been trying since the first strike. Yet he still stood frozen in place.

With a sickening crunch, Shampoo's fist made a solid impact. And then things were absolutely still for a moment before the Amazon's shoulders began to shake and the girl began crying as her heart had been ripped in half. As her crying worsened, she released the girl beneath her. Shampoo's fist still did not move from its location in the splintered wood beside Kasumi's head.

While some would have expected the released girl that had been beaten and bruised to run away, Kasumi did the very opposite. Lifting up her good arm, she pulled Shampoo down to her, allowing the Amazon to cry on her shoulder. "It's alright Shampoo."

Weakly, and through her tears she tried to ask how or why, but speech was impossible with how much her heart ached.

Cologne sighed as she watched her great-granddaughter being comforted by the very one she had just almost tried to kill. Looking up at Ranma's face, she was surprised to see he was still standing there, and even more surprising was seeing the tears in his eyes. This whole business did not set well with her and she knew all of their time to get Ranma into the tribe had now been wasted. "We'll don't just stand there, the fight is over. Shampoo lost." However, Ranma failed to move. "Move you stupid male!" Cologne barked as she tried to get him to do something. Yet, when he still did not move, Cologne hit him over the head with her cane, which caused him to fall over face first as though he were a statue. "What's this?"

"Oh my…" Kasumi said from where she was still holding Shampoo. "I'm sorry elder, but he cannot move yet."

"Why not?"

Ducking her head was not easy, as she held a still crying and trembling Amazon warrior, but Kasumi was able to do it as she meekly told Cologne, "I… I used a series of pressure points that locked his arms and legs in place."

"You what!" Cologne asked in astonishment and then chuckled as she realized that Ranma would have stopped the fight at the beginning if he thought Kasumi would get hurt.

"I… I wanted to make sure he didn't interfere… I'm sorry for the deception."

Shampoo sat up and could not help but chuckle through her tears at this, but she still could not form words.

"But that doesn't explain…" Cologne started to say then recalled how the Tendo girl had caressed Ranma's face just before the match. "You locked his jaw in place too."

"Yes elder," Kasumi said meekly and with Shampoo moving off her, she was able to move into a sitting position as well. "Shampoo, will you let me show you a pressure point?" When the girl nodded her head, Kasumi touched the girl on the base of her neck close to her spine. "This point shuts off the pain receptors in your body… but it does not last all that long."

Colognes eyes widened in surprise. "You… you stopped yourself from feeling pain!" Guiltily, Kasumi nodded her head. "I see, it makes sense now…" Cologne said and began cackling madly.

"W-wh-what?" Shampoo finally managed to get out as she somewhat regained control over her crying fit.

"Y-you!" Cologne cackled even harder, "You got Shampoo not to use pressure points on you… but you said noting… nothing about using them on yourself!"

Shampoo blink-blinked and looked at the Tendo girl, who blushed. "It's true?"

"I'm sorry Shampoo. This was the only way I thought I could get you to understand. But could you please… please use that point on me. It should be wearing off soon, and I'd like to get this set…" She said as she pointed to her broken arm, "Before the pain starts."

"Ok…" Shampoo said and touched the same spot that Kasumi had touched on her. To her amazement, Kasumi's face relaxed as though a pain that she had been hiding had been removed.

"We'll don't just sit there… set her broken arm, this match is at an end," Cologne told her great-granddaughter and began cackling even more. It just seemed unbelievable to the aged matriarch that someone had duped not only Shampoo, but her as well. 'This one is more cunning that I thought, this made things a lot more interesting!'

Once Kasumi's arm was set, and splinted, the elder Tendo daughter moved over to Ranma and rolled him onto his back. His scowl made her recoil slightly. "I'm sorry… I knew I couldn't get you to wait outside and I knew you would interfere…" She spoke softly as she searched his hard eyes for some sort of understanding from him. "Please don't hate me…" she said softly and caressed his face. "I just couldn't stand loosing you," she told him and then kissed him while unlocking his jaw.

To her amazement, Ranma returned the kiss wholeheartedly. Upon pulling away from his lips, she was glad to see that the hard edge to his eyes was gone. "I'll never hate you…" he told her sincerely. "Kami you've got to believe me…" he told her with tears in his eyes. "I just never wanted ta see ya get hurt… an… an this… I…"

Kasumi stopped him by placing her finger on his lips. "I know, but it had to be done. I promise not to do anything like this in the future without talking to you first… if you'll still have me."

"Are you crazy?" He shouted. "There is no way this is happening again, an I'll be damned if I'm gonna allow you to get hurt! You can't believe how much it hurt… just to stand there… and… and watch…" Tears came to his eyes and he longed to touch her, caressed her face or hold her in his arms, but his arms and legs were still frozen in place.

"I'm sorry…" she told him and gingerly she hit the spots on him that returned his full movement. However, not a second had passed from when the last point was released and she found herself swept up into his arms and held protectively against him. Those same strong arms that held her so closely at night, still held her the same and with the same warmth. Feeling this, tears began to fall from her eyes as the two passionately kissed for several long minutes, seemingly unaware of the two Amazons in the room with them.

Even though her heart was still hurting, it found a way to hurt even more as she watched the way Ranma kissed Kasumi. She understood now what the girl had been saying. It all made sense now, and she wished that it was her that was being held in his arms. 'Why not me? Why can't he love me that much?' she asked herself tearfully. 'This is what she meant… to have him hold her… because he wants to… not because he has to… Airen… I… I wanted you to hold me like that…'

Seeing Ranma and Kasumi together, while touching, sadly reminded her of something she had not wanted to think about for a long time. "Shampoo…" Cologne said tiredly as she watched Ranma and Kasumi kiss, seemingly oblivious to the fact they were still in the room.

"Yes great-grandmother?" Shampoo asked just as tiredly. Her body ached, but not from being in a fight. Yet more than her body, her heart and mind hurt.

For a moment, the aged woman remained motionless, then letting out a sigh she told her great-granddaughter, "Xian Pu of the Joketsuzoku, stand and hear my words as Matriarch." Standing up quickly then bowing before her great-grandmother, Shampoo tried not to let her fears rage out of control, though she could not stop her shoulders from shaking. "It pains me to say this, but being one of the Council of Elders forces my hand."

"W-what…" Shampoo stuttered out, and then calmed herself. "What is your word elder?"

The sudden seriousness of the two alerted Ranma and Kasumi that something was up, and it wasn't very good.

"Xian Pu, champion of the Joketsuzoku, when you were disgraced in front of our people by this male cursed to be a female; you gave him the Kiss of Death. Later you gave his male side the Kiss of Marriage before returning home a failure once. I was forced by the Counsel to take you to Jusenkyo and give you a curse for failure to understand the way the curses work."

"Wait a second…" Ranma interrupted but was quickly silenced by a withering glare from Cologne.

"Remain silent, this is Amazon business," she scolded then returned her attention to Shampoo once more. "When you were ordered to leave the village a second time, you were given the order to return victorious or to not return at all, or have you forgotten."

The girl in question paled, and meekly replied, "No elder… Shampoo no forget…"

"And yet you have failed, and failed to a non-combatant, one who is protected by our laws as being a non-warrior and a healer."

"But… But great-grandmother…"

"There are no excuses," the aged woman told her. "And so as my last act as your Matriarch and Joketsuzoku Elder; you are hereby stripped of your station and status as Champion."

"What…" Shampoo asked in a voice so small that the others barely heard it.

"HAY WAIT A MINUTE!" Ranma shouted and stood up with Kasumi beside him. "Just because I didn't marry her is no reason to do this!"

Cologne hated to do this to her own family, and with him saying that, it just grated on her nerves. "Boy, you will not lecture me on Amazon laws and you will remain silent. You are free to live your life as you please. As Amazons there are laws and rules that we MUST follow."

"But..." Ranma tried to say more, though unfortunately he was not sure what to say. He knew that if he wanted to stay with Kasumi and be happy with her, then he had to refuse Shampoo, but by doing that, she was going to be kicked out of her tribe. Yet if he chose Shampoo, then he would be casting Kasumi away after it had taken so much for him to propose to her, but that was minor compared to what Kasumi had gone through for him.

However, Shampoo was not hearing any of this argument; instead, she had gone from bowing, to kneeling on the floor, her whole body felt numb and cold. Her mind was waging a war against her feelings. If she killed Kasumi, and took Ranma back, then she would remain the Champion of the Amazons, but she knew Ranma would hate her. Even if she drugged him, used a technique on him to make him forget Kasumi, or what ever, she knew his heart was not hers.

"Excuse me… elder…" Kasumi asked with a bowed head. She hadn't expected this.

"What child?" Cologne asked with only a slight irritation despite how much this was getting to her.

"What will happen to Shampoo now?"

"She is an outcast, and can never return to the Ancestral home…" even as she said it, everyone, including Ranma could hear in her voice that she hated to say it. "…This… This is to be my final act on the Counsel of Elders."

Ranma blinked at that, as he'd never known the old woman to ever stutter, pause or repeat herself like that.

"What do you mean 'final act'?" Kasumi asked pensively.

"In a situation like this, the counsel could ask for her life, or for her to be locked in her cursed form." As she said this, she saw the horrified look come to Ranma and Kasumi's faces, though Shampoo remained motionless. "However, I am going to send the counsel a letter, informing them of what is happening and asking that they spare my great-granddaughters life and accept my resignation."

"Oh my…" Kasumi said in shock.

Sighing, the aged woman told her, "Shampoo lost Ranma, and she lost to a non-combatant. There was no honor in this fight, and instead of removing the obstacle, she admitted defeat."

Ranma tried to think of something to say to help, "But… but…"

"Save it, we shall some time to come up with a good explanation. Come Shampoo, we have no more business here."

"No stop!" Kasumi suddenly cried out.

"What Miss Tendo, you have won, this is now an Amazon affair, and it must be dealt with. Had I known you were not a fighter I would not have allowed this to continue." Left unsaid was how she had taken it for granted that the girl's family owned a dojo, yet she never practiced.

Kasumi looked at the two of them for a moment before she 'knew' what she had to do. Striding over to Shampoo as confidently as possible when one is bruised, she told the still stunned girl, placeing her left hand on Shampoo's shoulder getting her attention Kasumi told her, "I won't allow this. Shampoo there is another option, there has to be."

Ranma blinked at this. "Wha?"

Shampoo seemed confused too. "What option?"

"If… if your old family won't accept you, then stay here with us, let us become your new family."

"What?" Ranma asked with wide eyes.

"You… you want me… to be you family?" Shampoo asked in amazement, especially considering the so-called fight just a few minutes ago.

"Yes, I would be honored to call you my sister." She told the now ex-Amazon with a smile.

For her part, Shampoo just stood there staring at the girl, but before she could respond Cologne broke in, "I think that would be an excellent idea." None of those in attendance was privy to the aged woman's thoughts as she mentally screamed, 'YES!'

Ranma's gaze snapped over to Cologne. "You do?"

A smile came to her face as she thought about it, 'As I thought, they would not let harm come to my great-granddaughter. I'm glad I did this here.' Though to the others, she said, "Yes… yes I think this will work out fine. You know Ranma, I have done everything I could to get you into our tribe, and now it seems we are joining yours instead!"

"Oh? Is this possible then?" Kasumi asked hopefully while Ranma just sputtered incoherently.

Cologne nodded. "Yes, and while it will take a little getting used to, I would be honored to have this chance. But are you sure this is what you want?"

"Yes, it is what I want. If this will help Shampoo, then I will do it."

"But… but… why?" Asked the girl in question. Her life was spinning out of her control, as just this morning she had thought she'd finally have Ranma as her Airen, only to lose him in the worst fight of her life. Then she had to watch as Ranma and Kasumi kissed… and now… now she was being kicked out of the tribe… and the very one that took her Airen from her, was offering to be her sister!

Hearing Shampoo's accusing tone, Kasumi bowed her head. "I don't expect you to understand, but I cannot stand to think that just for me to be happy, you have to lose everything you are. Please, at least allow me to do this."

It took several long moments, but finally Shampoo smiled. "Shampoo want call you sister…" She placed her hand over her heart and sighed deeply. "Still hurts, but… but now see… Shampoo no love Air… Ranma like Kasumi do."

Placing her arm comfortingly around her new sister's shoulders, she told the girl, "I'm sorry I caused you so much trouble, but I could not let Ranma go."

"Shampoo know… Shampoo no want lose Ranma too."

Cologne looked at her great-granddaughter and Kasumi with pride in her eyes. "Miss Tendo, you surprise me. I never expected this from you, nor did I expect you to ask to take us into your home. However, I am grateful for your kind and compassionate heart."

"Thank you elder." She said bowing as gracefully as she could considering her physical state.

"I am curious though," Cologne said with a glint to her eye and a sneaky smile forming on her lips. "How is it that your father has not come in yet to stop this fight, or one of your sisters?"

Kasumi blushed and bowed her head. "You see, last night I cooked a special meal for both our fathers, and it included an ingredient that should keep them asleep for a while longer."

Cologne was really beginning to like the way Kasumi handled things. "Interesting… and your sisters?"

"Akane has been staying at her new home with Ryoga, and Nabiki does not know about this."

"I see, so they will be quite surprised to see you in this condition." As Cologne said that, Shampoo ducked her head in embarrassment.

"Sadly yes," Kasumi told them. "While I do have some incense and know of some techniques that can accelerate my healing, I will not be able to hide this from them," she said and motioned to her broken arm.

"I see…" Cologne said as she nodded then smiled. "Ranma, take your woman to her room and help her recover. Shampoo, come with me, we have lunch to fix for our new family!"

"Oh… but…" Kasumi tried to say, but Cologne had already left the dojo with Shampoo in tow.

"Come on Kasumi…" Ranma told her softly. "I know some other things that can help heal that faster."

"Ok," she replied with a blush on her face.

To be continued…

I am glad so many had liked the fight; I wanted to do something I had never seen before. I hope that I met your expectations and kept you entertained. As for those that believe Ryoga and Akane do not deserve happiness, well… while I feel that way many times, in this story they may find it, though it won't be easy.


End file.
